Phantom by Elijah - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:96 - New York Pilot Boat

[mikiek]

Elijah - Google sanding sticks. You'll find more than you ever imagined. All shapes & sizes.

[EJ_L]

Pencil or pen sanders is what they are more commonly known as. (My dad always called it a pencil sander so that name has stuck in my head) are small hand held power sanders that hold tiny sanding pads of various shapes and sizes designed to get into small areas. Proxxon is a common brand for this. Here is the Amazon link for one. https://www.amazon.com/Proxxon-28594-12-Volt-Pen-Sander/dp/B000NDGUXU

[dgbot]

We had a couple at work for repairing dies.  But I think it is overkill.  sanding blocks and using dowels and just take your tie.  You will be happy with the end result.  Patience is a virtue in this hobby.

David B

[cobra1951]

Make your own sanding sticks, for small ones take some 2mm x 2mm wood strips glue a few together then use double sided tape to fix sandpaper to them. You can make all sizes and shapes to suit your job

[robnbill]

Elijah,

 

One option I often use is the heavy emory boards from CVS. These are found in the nail section and usually are about ½ wide, 5 or 6 inches long and have a course and smooth side and heavy foam between. These are great for disposable sanding sticks. They are stiff enough to do the job, yet flexible enough to follow the curves.

Edited September 7, 2016 by robnbill

[cog]

Hello Elijah,

 

I make them from pieces MDF I've got laying around. But I glue the sandpaper on it. You can rip it of once the grit has vanished, and glue a new on on

[robnbill]

One other thing I meant to mention. When I was building the Connie I was not sure what the final base was going to look like. So I built a temporary base and screwed that to the ship to use during construction. Once I finished construction I carefully unscrewed the base and moved it to the new base. You can have someone assist you by balancing the ship so you have your hands free to align everything and remount. It was actually an easy thing to do.

 

The other side of this is it kept me from dinging up the base during the rigging process. It also allowed me time to think about what I wanted the base to look like after the ship was further along. She looks a lot different rigged.

 

Just a thought.

[Bill Morrison]

Elijah,

 

Proxxon make a beautiful small pen-sander that will enable you to sand in very tight places.  I have gotten a lot of use from it.  I believe that Micro Mark is a key distributor for Proxxon.  You should check them out for many different tools.

 

Bill

[vaddoc]

Elijah, I would suggest hand sanding. Power sanding on things already glued can be risky as you can sand more than you would like in no time. I think if you use 120 or 150 grit you ll get it done vey quickly and have better control.

 

I usually take cork sanding pads from DIY shops and slice them in pieces and load strips of sanding paper with flat head board pins. For concave staff, I just use any round object to load the sandpaper strips. 

Regards

[Sjors]

Elijah,

 

A wise decision not taking the hull every few day's.

There is a option for that.

Buy another ship and leave them to that other home    

Double fun !!!!

 

Looking good further.

 

Sjors 

[Elijah]

The problem with leaving another ship at my other home is that there are two kittens constantly confined in my bedroom. I don't want to know what would happen to the ship in the rigging stage !

[Sjors]

Other solution......buy a tug boat and you don't have the rigging problem !!!

 

Sjors

[Elijah]

Now that's an idea !

[EJ_L]

Cats and models are not a good combination. A friend of mine came home from deployment and found his model railroad looking like the aftermath of a Godzilla attack. His train room now has a door with a lock on it.

[kurtvd19]

Sjors:

You hit on the solution for those who dislike rigging.  I did so many repair and restorations that I said 'no more (extensive) rigging" and now I tell the guys that my latest tug boat had a lot of rigging - TWO flag halyards!

Kurt

[Elijah]

I thought you might like that !

[Bill Morrison]

Elijah,

 

I swear by that Proxxon Pen-Sander, even for sanding parts that you have attached.  It comes with variable speed control, and the lowest settings are quite nice for such parts.  There are six different sanding heads ranging in shape from circular, square, rectangular, and triangular.  These heads are approximately 1/2 to 2/3 of an inch and are ideal for ship modeling.  I have used mine repeatedly on parts already affixed without difficulties.  It makes life much easier.

 

Bill

[Elijah]

Thanks Bill! I will take a look at it. I have finished sanding the cap rail, and you can see some of the cleats I am working on. I sand the cleats, drill a hole in them, insert and glue in a wire, and then cut the wire to length. The wire adds strength to the connection to the bulwarks.

Until next time!

[rafine]

Nice job on the rail Elijah, and the right way to do the cleats.

 

Bob

[EJ_L]

Your rail looks nice and smooth. Good thinking on those cleats. That may save a headache or two later when you tie something off to them.

[cog]

It looks good, Elijah. It seems that the power tool isn't necessary ... you can use your savings for something else - another kit mebby?

[robnbill]

As I approached rigging the Connie I was not sure how I would like it. I totally had experience in wood working before I started working on the ship, so I knew I enjoyed that type of work. Rigging was a completely new experience. One I enjoyed tremendously. It was a lot of fun. It really made the old girl look dressed up.

[Elijah]

Hello again! Thanks for all the comments! I made and attached the cleats. I sanded them, drilled a hole on the center, inserted a wire, cut them to size, painted them, and glued them to the bulwarks. Next up will be eye bolts and hawse pipes.

Until next time!

[mikiek]

Nice work Elijah. One suggestion - not on your work but on your photography. When you shoot small pieces like that, it can help to put a coin (or something) by them so we can get an idea of the scale you are dealing with. Those cleats look pretty small.

[cog]

Mike made a good suggestion, I would like to add, that usually use an object like a pencil, as coin sizes are not known by everybody who read your log.

 

Well done

[Elijah]

Sure! I will post a picture with a pencil sometime soon!

[mikiek]

A long pencil or a short one?

[cog]

The biggest he's got, makes his work look even smaller :D and thus far more difficult!!!

[Elijah]

There is an oddity shop in my neighborhood that has things such as giant pencils ! The one in the picture is not one of them though. My hull is about 9" long, or a bit longer than the average pencil. Here is the picture, as promised!

Until next time!

[Jparsley]

Looks good my friend Tiny tiny work