Marie Jeanne by Jack12477 - FINISHED - Artesania Latina - 1:50 scale

[GLakie]

Looking good Jack. Have a Happy Thanksgiving yourself. 

[Jack12477]

Update:

 

Still not sure how the stern is supposed to look when finished but so far it seems to be coming out okay. Completed the planking on one side - partial planked the opposite side.  Directions called for "strakes with sharpened points" mid-way up the hull".  Well, there are only two planks with "pointy ends".  Was able to scarph most of the planks into each other at the bow, using my miniature chisel set and miniature Veritas block and shoulder planes (from Lee Valley tools) to do most of the tapering. Hull is rough sanded to smooth out some plank edges. Will give it another more complete sanding once the opposite side is planked. 

 

Photos below:

 

The Lee Valley Veritas miniature tools:

 

 

Planking:

 

 

The bow and stern planks are left a little "rough" to leave enough extra so the stern post and stem posts can be installed last.

[Jack12477]

Update:

 

The planking of the hull is now complete. Installed the keel, bow stem and stern post. Surprised myself - the keel, stem, stern posts all fit nearly perfectly with only a minimum of sanding - usually with these types of kits I spend hours sanding and shaping to get the pieces to fit the planked hull correctly. Hull is completely sanded - the Lee Valley miniature planes did a nice job of knocking off the high points of the planks.

 

 

[Jack12477]

Thanks everyone for the comments and likes.

 

 

After spending many frustrating hours dry fitting the stern pieces and trying to decipher poor instructions and equally poor photos supplied with the kit, I finally got the stern assembled - not quite the way it was supposed to be but enough that a little improvisation could remedy the screw-up.  Side sheers and cap rails installed.  My solution to the screw-up was to horizontally plank the stern (big gap) with the same planks as the hull and then feather sand them into the hull.

 

There's another thin plywood piece that goes over the sheer as a rub rail/strip which hasn't been called out it the instructions yet but it will cover some of the small gaps.

 

First the vague and misleading picture - note the stern area

 

 

Model

 

Which way does it install ? Up or Down ?

 

 

Final solution

 

 

Next comes the deck structures.

 

[Canute]

Looks good, Jack. Transom is blended in nicely. The hull planking looks smooth. Since this is double planked, the second layer will lay down nicely.

[mtaylor]

I'm with Ken.  Hopefully you'll have smooth sailing.    Funny thing about AL and transoms...  I built the Scottish Maid (first build) and the instructions didn't even mention it or how to put it together.  I cobbled it so bad, I ended up cutting off about 3/16 of an inch or more.  The stern area of the deck is a bit crowded as a result but the funny thing is... no one ever notices.     A second planking will hide a lot of sins.

[trippwj]

Greetings, Jack - just came across your build. She is coming along nicely - you are doing well overcoming challenges the kit maker created! That first planking looks nice. I'll just lean against the bar over here and watch the next installment.

[Jack12477]

Hi Wayne, welcome to the party. Please have a virtual beverage at the bar

 

Ken, Mark, thanks - yes, I finally got the transom figured out, and you're right, Mark, on all of my AL kits I've had problems with the stern/transom area. A simple diagram would suffice.  And thanks to all who clicked the LIKE button.

 

I think I may have jumped the gun on the double planking. When I inventoried the kit, I saw the nice 0.5 mm walnut veneer AL uses for the 2nd planking and assumed 2nd planking but after reading thru the "picture book" more it appears this is to cover the deck/hatch structures and the die-cast metal row boat that came with the kit. The pictures show it painted a blue-white-black hull pattern and I think I need to stop here and start deciding on a paint scheme because if I continue on then the painting of the interior of the sheer/gunwale area will be impossible; ditto some of the exterior.  I'm not sure how much walnut veneer will be left for 2nd planking but I do have some in my stash from a previous AL kit so a 2nd planking is still a possibility. 

 

Back in post #23 the last two photos show the color scheme on the book art and "picture book" but I'm not sure I want to do it that color or choose a different color, say dark green or red, or ???? with maybe the walnut veneer in place of the black bottom paint. I took a piece of the plywood the sheer plank was cut from and am running some paint "chips" to see what I like.

 

I'm open to opinions, suggestions, comments on painting/color scheme! So fire away !

Edited December 5, 2015 by Jack12477

[mtaylor]

Jack,

If you paint, no need for a second layer of planking.      I think colors boil down to your preference.  Or the Admiral's...  If in doubt, I would go with the Admiral's.

[Jack12477]

Mark, this is not the Admiral's flagship. It's the lowly Captain's fishing boat ! But then I guess "she who must be obeyed" should at least be consulted

 

I'm not too fond of the black bottom for the hull. I'm leaning toward walnut veneer which would be a 2nd partial planking. But yes 2nd planking not needed if I paint the whole hole like the box art.

[Canute]

Wise man, Mark. As somebody said "Happy wife, happy life"!

[Jack12477]

Spent a good part of the weekend masking the ship off for painting. Today I got a few tips from my artist son on the subtle fine points of blending paints to get the desire color.  We were trying to pick a blue to match the box art. The formula he came up with was 1 big puddle of Delta Dreamcoat Blue Jay, then add 3 brush tips of Liquitex Ultramarine Blue (close to Cobalt blue), mix with brush and apply.  (paint is water-based acrylic).

 

Now I can hear the collective "hmmmmmmmmm" , remember artists don't work in precise measurements . 

 

Anyway I was able to duplicate the color in 3 separate batches for 3 coats.  "Primed" the hull area to be painted first with artists Gesso (for those not familiar it's what artist coat their canvas with prior to painting), let it dry 24 hrs then lightly sanded, and painted.  Got a pretty close match to the color in the "picture book instructions".  So the interior bulkheads got 2 coats of paint (sand color) and the exterior got 3 coats of blue. Removed the masking tape and had to do a little touch up. The rub strakes also got 3 coats of blue before I install them on the model. Managed to keep the nice walnut strips clean of paint, they will get a coat (or two) of WOP.

 

Photos will follow in next post.

 

Oh, I had a visit from a little friend, came over from the woodcarving shop. Guess he wanted to know when I was going to give him a pair of eyes and legs

 

black-cap chickadee

Edited December 8, 2015 by Jack12477

[GLakie]

That's a neat way to improvise Jack.  Using the Gesso in place of using primer.  Reminds me to get over to my artist supply store (Blick's) for more supplies. Nice job on the carving by the way. Yes - get that bird some legs and eye-balls. 

[Canute]

Ah, my little chickadee  -  with apologies to W.C. Fields. (I'll go quietly now)

[pete48]

Nice build you have going on here Jack When I was a kid I had the Billing boats version of this Boat, it never got put together ( and I have no idea what ever happened to it ) So I will re live my youth through your build 

 

Best Regards,

Pete

[Jack12477]

Pete, welcome to my build log. Thanks for the compliments.

 

George, thanks. Yes, my son suggested using Gesso for my woodcarvings and now I'm trying it on the boat. It does raise the wood grain a tad but a little pass with 400 grit works nice.  He has to sand his canvases after he applies the Gesso.  Yea the bird needs finishing - this is the 2nd carving I did of him the 1st one is already sitting on a tree branch with eyes and legs - just been lazy about finishing this one. The "feathers" were done with a woodburning knife - almost as bad as doing ratlines.

 

Okay, "W.C.Fields" - have some popcorn   

 

And thanks to those who clicked the LIKE button.

 

 

[Jack12477]

Update:

 

Painting of the hull is complete, except for a few touchups here and there.  The entire external hull was coated with 1 coat of artists Gesso - after it dried for 24 hours I lightly (emphasis on lightly) sanded it with 400 grit sandpaper (Gesso comes off easy if you sand to hard). I then proceed to mask the ship, starting with the deck area and then working to the outside. The blue coat was applied first, followed by the white band and lastly the black hull bottom. The paints are all water based acrylics, Michael's store brands. I described the color blending in post #42 above.  Four coats of blue and four coats of white were applied; but only two coats of black (Lamp Black); the white is Titanium white (snow white).. The deck got 1 coat of WOP.

 

Close-up photos certainly reveal the spots needing touch-up

 

 

I notice there's some circular spots on some of the photos - it's either on the lens or something to do with the lighting - but it is not on the model itself.

[pete48]

Very Nice Jack, she's looking good 

 

Best Regards,

Pete

[Canute]

Nice paint job there, Jack. The blue must be somewhat translucent to do it first. These are Ceramcoat paints ?

[Jack12477]

Thanks Ken, Pete and everyone who clicked LIKE.

 

Yes, Ken, for the most part Ceramcoat. Also Americana, another brand sold by Michaels.  Actually the blue isn't that translucent. It was just easier to work from top to bottom. In addition if you look closely you will see a "rub" strake bow to stern. It's a strip of thin plywood cut to a curve that goes over the hull, so I painted it separate from the rest then glued it over to hide the blue/white demarcation line.  Clamping it was a bear tho.

 

The only Liquitex brand I used was the Gesso and Cobalt blue to darken the Ceramcoat blue.  99% of the acrylics I use are either Ceramcoat or Americana brand from Michaels - also used for my woodcarvings.

[Jack12477]

The shipyard's paint department.  Representative sample of the paint "brands" used. I use the white painter's palette for mixing the colors. they're plastic, inexpensive, available in Michaels and are easy to clean.

 

[UpstateNY]

Hi Jack,

 

Marie Jeanne is looking wonderful!

 

If you don't mind a question on paint, what is your view of Testers brand?

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

 

PS. Your carved bird is awesome. Detail in the feathers is just unbelievable!

[Jack12477]

Hi Nigel, thanks for the compliments on the boat and bird. 

 

I've used Testor's ModelMaster series paints for years on my plastic models. It's an excellent paint; their other series (ones you see in the teeny tiny jars) is fair; but the ModelMaster series is excellent.  Of course, the best paints were the Floquil and PolyS paints but they've gone out of existence altho some hobby stores still have some in stock.  For my woodcarvings, I've pretty much stuck to water based acrylics which I've now applied to boats. I have not tried ModelMaster paints on wood yet but have no reason to think they would not work well on wood. Probably need a different primer for wood than the Gesso I've been using.

 

ModelMaster goes on well with a brush and is easily used (with their airbrush thinner) in an airbrush. Coverage is excellent with either method. I've used it in an airbrush to paint camouflage pattens with great results.

 

The bird's feathers were burned/carved into the wood first using a Colwood Cub woodburner with the "B" tip, then they were painted using acrylics. Takes as much patience as tying ratlines. I haven't tried the woodburner on wooden ships but it would probably work fine.

Edited December 13, 2015 by Jack12477

[UpstateNY]

Many thanks Jack...appreciate the insights!

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

[Nirvana]

Jack,

I just finalized reading through your build log, and got goose-bumps when seeing your transom part.

It was like deja-vu. Back in the 70's when I built Marie-Jeanne, I was all alone on the project, And no support but that part gave me a lot of thinking.

I probably re-did that part 4 - 5 times. Still it didn't turn out perfect.

Besides today with internet it is so much easier to get help if stuck.

Good job.

[Jack12477]

Thanks Per. Yes, I probably dry fit that piece half a dozen times before finally gluing it in place and it still wasn't right.

 

Pull up a barrel and join the party.

 

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

[Nirvana]

Found a casket, seems to be filled with some liquid.....

Smells good from it though..... well better sit down on it instead of trying to open it.

Looking forward to next step.

[Jack12477]

Happy New Year All ! Hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday.

 

Got in some shipyard time over the long holidays.  Worked mostly on getting the rudder installed. Fabricating the actual rudder was simple, even the gudgeons and pintals were simple since AL supply the straps already formed and drilled out. The major challenge was drilling the hole thru the deck and ship for the rudder shaft. I made a photocopy of the deck plan layout, cut it to size to fit inside the gunwales, located the exact center for the hole, and using a sharp awl marked its location. BUT and this is the big BUT ! There is no mention of the angle to be drilled and the position (I found out while drilling) goes right thru the backbone (aka false keel) plywood. First I started the hole with a 1/16" drill bit, trying to eyeball the angle. Came close enough on the first pass. Then using successively larger diameter bits I enlarged the hole, except the backbone forced one of the bits slightly off angle. Using several different diameter round files I finally got the whole thing lined up with the stern post. Affixing the rudder to the hull was a cake walk thanks to AL's preformed parts.

 

However the rudder post in the drawings and photos sticks up above the deck by some amount (no measurements - just pictures) and mine ended up flush to the deck. So a little improvisation will be necessary later down the road to get it high enough to attach a tiller.

 

Photos follow:

 

Now that I have completed steps 1 to 10 of the printed instructions the remaining instructions are these

 

I like the comment about "most delicate and laborious work" ! So now it's picture book time   And I have a feeling that some of the measurements for placing things is going to be done by the "looks about right" yardstick !

 

Oh and my new assistant keeps standing around the yard with his hands in his pockets, looking lost. 

 

More photos and updates to follow shortly

[GLakie]

The rudder came out good Jack.  Yeah - you gotta love the instruction manuals. There are some guys here that rarely use them, relying totally on the plans and reference photos though.    

[ofencer29350]

hello jack12477!

 

i just want to say be carreful with the deck , there is a lot of mistake on your plan!

if you would be right i sugest to buy the "ar vag " book who is a series of 3 book for workboat of britain coast

you will find there a lot of détails to build a real 'thonier de groix"