Sir Winston Churchill by Turatopgun - Billing Boats

[Turatopgun]

Well this is it.  I have started Sir Winston after reading so many logs and build instructions, after buying the necessary tools and finding all the various web sites re wooden sailing ships.  I spent the first few hours (and they went so quickly) on cutting out the bulk heads and sanding them.  The next day I glued them in. I used an old paint brush and 'Titebond' wood glue.  Worked very well too.I made a couple of small errors but fixed them up and all is ok. Yesterday I started the planking and am following the method suggested by Billings and by looking at the photos provided. It appears to be going ok although I have only put on two planks...hmmmm.  Reading Chucks planking guide it appears that his is more for scratch built boats so I am just going ahead the way Billings suggest.  We shall see if it works.  I am enjoying it at the moment and can't wait to get into it today. I will attempt to take a photo and upload it for my next log in.

 

Critical comments are welcomed as long as they are positive criticisms.

 

PhillB

(Turatopgun)

[dgbot]

Phil, planking on a model is the same wheather it is a k or scratch built.  I would go with Chuck's tutorial before Billings.  Plus show what you have done so we can follow along.  

David B

[Turatopgun]

Here we are again.  I have a few photos I hope to upload to show what has been done.  Well it appears that I have managed to upload the first two photos.  I don't think I need to explain them as I imagine they are self explanatory to the majority of builders on the site.  

Re Chuck's planking I have looked at the photos of the planked Sir Winston and it appears to be single planked the whole length.  I think this is due to the narrowness of its beam unlike the boat that chuck used in his guide which appears to be more varied in the area being planked. Further, it may also be that my boat is not a scratch build. However, I will be very careful in my efforts and check thoroughly before glueing.

 

Regards

PhillB

[Elijah]

Nice start !

[Turatopgun]

Thanks Elijah, I have been looking at your build. It looks great. Maybe we should encourage each other.

 

PhillB

[UpstateNY]

Hi Phil,

 

Great to see you starting a build log and your build looks great..I'll follow along if you don't mind. 

 

I am w Dave here regarding Chuck instructions as they have always worked well for me.  If you don't mind the suggestion, you may want to check your hull fairing before you get too far into the planking...I see some laser char left across the bulkheads in your pictures. Using a batten to check the planking will contact the bulkheads fully across their width will make the planking go a lot easier.  Just a thought as now is the time to do some touch up fairing by sanding off any high points!

 

Looking forward to your next update...enjoy!

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

Edited February 1, 2016 by UpstateNY

[dgbot]

Phil, another thing you can do is fill in between the bulkheads.  This will give you more glue surface and make it so that your planks will lie properly,

David B

[Turatopgun]

Thanks for the info Guys.

 

I have sanded all the bulkheads and found that whilst the burn from the laser has been sanded off, the centre part of the ply retains a dark colour which may appear to look burnt. The planking so far appears to have held, but I have also run a smidgin of glue on the inside of each bulkhead where the planks touch.

 

You will note from the photo which shows the planking done so far, that the planks at each end appear uneven.  This is how they are; however, they are flat to the bulkhead and have enough thickness to be sanded evenly. As I mentioned previously I am taking things easy and slowly with regard to the planking and will attempt to dry run it before finally glueing. Hopefully I will not let you down,

 

Thanks again

 

PhillB

[gjdale]

Looks like you're off to a good start Phil, and I see you're already receiving plenty of good advice. Just remember to take your time and enjoy the journey. Mistakes will most certainly be a part of the process and re-dos are simply an opportunity to do better. I look forward to following your progress.

[ETNZ]

Interesting. I was on the Sir Malcolm Miller, Sir Winston's twin. The only real difference being the door tops on the Miller were rounded and not square.or, may have been the other way around, it was over thirty years ago!

I thought of building this with rounded tops just for old times sake. I'll follow your build with interest. Oh, the other difference was the Miller fell over in dry dock during refit and ended up slightly bent. For some reason, this seemed to make her faster when the two raced at the end of a cruise. Good luck with her.

Edited February 5, 2016 by ETNZ

[Turatopgun]

Thanks guys,

 

Well, I am further down the line on the ship and really enjoying the journey. Time just flies when you are involved and one does get involved when trying to work out plans that jus don't seem to have everything in them.  Will talk about that when I reach that point in the build.   I have almost finished one side and have started the other side.  Unlike the other builds I have seen I have to complete both sides of the hull and then glue them together.  I have checked and so far they seem to fit ok.

 

PhillB

[Turatopgun]

Interesting comment ETNZ as I have been looking at any info I could find on the Winston C.  My intent was to find out how the lines (I don't know yet what they are called) that come down from the mast are held.  I believe LORY had the same question regarding the tightening of the lines as they did not appear to be held well enough to hold the lines under pressure.  The Billings kit provides no explanation of this so I chased up all the info I could find including the  Sir Malcolm Miller.  The Refit of the Sir Malcolm Miller gave me the clue.  There is a large block attached under where the lines are attached to the side of the ship and I imagine that the lines are held in that block. So when I get to that stage I will make up a similar block to attach the lines too.  Hopefully when I reach that stage I will know what the lines  and othere parts are called.

PhillB

[IgorSky]

I like this ship long time too.

 

http://www.jocham-schiffe.de/html/start.html

[Turatopgun]

Thank you Igorsky

[Turatopgun]

Hi Spyglass,

I was responding to ETNZ above who was also on the Sir Malcolm.  I was saying that I had been looking at how the shrouds (I think they are called) are attached to the rubbing strake (as I believe it is called)  and the use of chainplates to attach to the deadeyes.  The Billings model does not include any chainplates or other connection to ensure that the tension on the shrouds can be held at max tension.  I found out that the Sir Malcolm  (the sister ship to the Sir Winston) did have a large block under the rubbing strake which allowed the shrouds to be tensioned. This block is not shown on the Billings model so my research was worth it and I will make one for the ship.

 

The Sir Malcolm was a beautiful ship especially after she was refitted.  There is YouTube video of the refit if you wish to see it.  It must have been great as the skipper. You should talk to ETNZ as he also sailed on the Sir Malcolm.  

 

Interesting isn't it.

 

PhillB

[Turatopgun]

Spyglass, just one other thing. You are the same age as me although you were born 4 days before me.  Hows that for coincidence.

PhillB

[Turatopgun]

Still, it must have been a great experience.  Re age , you 'll note I made no mention of it just the b'date,

PhillB

[Turatopgun]

Here we are again after another couple of hours of work.  I have almost completed one of the hulls an am partially through the second. Have had a couple of small but fixable errors and also put the deck cabin together and sanded it back.  My next step after completing all the planking will be to sand the hulls and fill them and sand them and seal them then paint them and sand them and paint them etc etc. 

 

But first I have to determine the filler I will use and the sealer.  Also do I put on an undercoat. I am going to use Humbrol paints as per directions but will have to nut out the approach to the task. I must say that the hull shape is quite good and will look great after it is sanded and sealed  Fortunately, the ship is steel hulled so I am not concerned with seeing timber planking, just a smooth hull. 

 

Will get on with the job and talk (write) later.

 

PhillB

[catopower]

Hi Phil,

 

Nice progress on your SWC. I always liked the Billing Boat series of kits that has you build the hull in halves. I built their Bluenose II kit that way and it all went together quite nicely.

 

 

I recently received the update Woody Joe kit (Japanese manufacturer) of the Sir Winston Churchill which is the exact same scale as the Billing Boats kit.

 

Your blog and the posts by various people here are very helpful. There are some details that seem a little simplified in the Woody Joe kit, so I've been scouring the Internet and calling on various resources.

 

I didn't see anyone mention this here yet, but there are some neat short videos about the ship on Youtube. This one seems to be a spliced together compilation of them:

 

If you can put up with the use of the Wagner music in a couple spots, most of it is actually well narrated.

 

I've had a hard time finding good reference photos, so this video turned out to be a godsend for me.

 

 

Clare

Edited February 7, 2016 by catopower

[Turatopgun]

Hi thanks CatoPower,

 

I have seen various parts of the YouTube clip that you included above but not the part at 4.13 minutes in which shows how the rubbing strake is strengthened  to enable the shrouds to be fully tensioned. If you look under the rubbing strake there are three angled pieces (steel I imagine) that tie the strakes to the hull.  In other photos and film I found it appeared from the angle of the pictures that there was a large bloc Non of this appears k of metal going the length of the rubbing strake but thanks to you I see exactly how it was done. You can also see that where three shrouds come down to the strake together the angle piece is three times larger than where a single is attached.  Non of this is shown in the Billings plans and  I would not have chased it up if the question had not been raised by Lory who is also building the Sir Winston and partially answered by Dan Vardis  in his response to Lory. It set me thinking how it would be done. Now I shall make up a few pieces of ply to fit under the strake to strengthen it to hold the shrouds at full tension. Once again thank you.

 

PhillB

Edited February 8, 2016 by Turatopgun

[Turatopgun]

Hi Clare,

 

I have couple of queries for you as a new builder of boats.  I have almost finished the hulls of the vessel and will need to sand,seal and paint. I know you have built a bluenose but Billings but unlike the Sir Winston I think that the bluenose is a fully wooden craft rather than a steel one.  My questions are;

1.  What do you use to fill any cracks in the hull to produce a sheer look'

2.  Can you use a regular sander sealer after the hull has been filled and sanded.

3.  Do you have to put an undercoat prior to final colour.

 

If I was painting a house I would not need to ask these questions but with a model boat ...who knows.

 

Anyway thanks again 

 

Phill

[Elijah]

Maybe a kind of wood filler?

[catopower]

Hi Phil,

 

There are probably plenty of people on MSW who can chime in with better answers than mine. You're right in the Bluenose II being a wooden hull ship. In fact, I don't think I've ever built a wooden model of a steel hull ship. Well, at least until Sir Winston Churchill. So, I've never had to worry about trying to get rid of wood grain or planking outlines.

 

For my Woody Joe Sir Winston Churchill model, I've been using plain old Elmer's wood filler on the hull. Regular sanding sealer can be applied after filling. In fact, it seems to harden the filler a bit, which is otherwise pretty soft. I'm not sure what to do about an undercoat prior to painting yet. I haven't gotten there, but will have to figure that out pretty soon.

 

I saw on another thread where someone recommended using a coat of Future on the hull to get a smooth finish. I've never tried that though, so I can't say that it works well or not.

 

Clare

[gjdale]

Phil,

 

I'm sure that any wood filler will do the job for you, but try to use one that claims not to shrink. A product I came across recently that works very well and is easy to use, is Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty. It comes in powdered form, which you mix with water to a consistency of your liking. Once dry, it sands very easily, producing a dust that is similar to talcum powder. It leaves a beautifully smooth finish for painting. If you are trying to simulate a steel hull, then I'd recommend using an undercoat. While there are as many opinions on paints as there are brands, Krylon does a range of spray cans for a variety of metal finishes that look really nice.

[Turatopgun]

Clare, Grant and Elijah

 

Thanks for the info.  I am almost at the stage of sanding the hull so my next few tasks will be filling sanding and painting,  I am waiting on the paints delivery and will now search out the filler etc.  Have to do a few other tasks in the meantime.

 

Phill

[Turatopgun]

 

Ok. here we are again.  I completed one of the hulls and spent about one and a half hours sanding the planking. It looked pretty good but I felt that it wasn't good enough so I decided to use polyfiller and then sand it back so it would provide solid base for for painting and hopefully presenting the ship as a steel built one rather than wood.  I realise that most of you will feel I've done the wrong thing but with careful sanding and removing of any blemished by reducing the sanding pads down to about 800 I will get a clean flat surface.. We shall see if it works.

 

Once I have sanded it I will then  complete the second hull and join them. The task after that will be to finish any filling that needs to be done and undercoat it with sander sealer and then start the top coats. Hopefully all will go well.

Edited February 13, 2016 by Turatopgun

[gjdale]

Nothing wrong with a bit of filler to smooth the surface, Phil.

 

I'm sure that once it's sanded back you'll have a great surface for painting, and that was your aim.

 

Looking forward to seeing the next step.

[UpstateNY]

Looking good Phil and I agree with Grant as there is nothing wrong with using filler to get a great base for painting!

 

The hull lines look really nice so I am also looking forward to seeing the two halves come together!

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

[Turatopgun]

Thanks Grant and Nigel.  

I have sanded the first hull back and will put a picture up of it,  My intention is to complete the other hull and then join them. At that stage I will fix up the stern and bow and adjust the bottom of the keel with more filler and undertake the final sanding of the the completed hull.  After that I will undercoat with sand sealer and consider my next move.  Like should I fix the portholes and rubbing strakes and propellors to the hull before final painting or even undercoating.  I am not sure if glues will stick the various items to the hull if it is painted or undercoated.  Any thoughts?

 

Phill

[gjdale]

Sticking things to a painted surface is asking for trouble Phil. If you do need to attach something to a surface that is already painted, try to scrape/sand the paint off just at the attacment point, back to bare timber (on both pieces) as you really want a wood-to-wood/metal bond.