HMS Bounty Launch by Sunsanvil - Model Shipways - Scale 1:16 - First wooden ship build

[CaptainSteve]

If it's any consolation, Sunsanvil, I think many of us met with some form of "difficulty" with the planking on this kit. I know I did ... but at the time I put it down to inexperience.

[Tigersteve]

I guess their cutting of pre spiled planks isn't great. If you're going to paint it then plug on. Wood filler and sanding should do the trick. You could always get some new strips and replank with your own shaping and bending of planks. That will be good practice and you may feel better after you've done a redo successfully. It's almost like redoing things is initiation into this hobby!

Steve

[Sunsanvil]

Its just frustrating because I really dont put this under the category of "learning", or "skill". How much of what type of glue, bending and shaping, broken cheery ribs, those sorts of things I take responsibility for. But when the sum of the widths of pre-cut planks is more than 3mm lacking, that is clearly a kit design and/or manufacturing issue.

 

Anecdotally speaking, I think its their cutting: if you measure and compare the planks on the printed plans they are all slightly larger than the laser cuttings.

[DHob]

The one thing I learned from this kit is "laser cut" does NOT mean "laser fit"!

[Sunsanvil]

It's actually funny because although a lot more work of course, the planks I've made from scratch are the best ones.

We almost have a hull folks...



Serious question: How on earth do I hold the shutter plank now that I have nothing to clamp to???

Edited December 26, 2016 by Sunsanvil

[Keith_W]

Try this -

 

1. Absolutely make sure your shutter plank fits. 

 

2. Apply PVA to the side of your plank, leaving a small gap every 3-4cm. DO NOT DO THE WHOLE PLANK. Only do the front first, maybe the first 6-8cm. Have some medium cure superglue (cyanoacrylate) ready. The idea is to let the superglue hold the plank while the PVA cures. 

 

3. Starting from the front: apply the superglue to the small gap you left on the plank. Fit the plank onto the model. Wait for the CA to cure. 

 

4. Move backwards to the next glue gap and apply superglue and the next strip of PVA. 

 

5. Repeat until the plank is secure. 

 

(edit) for your next model, I suggest that you place your shutter plank somewhere where it won't be visible. I always place mine below the waterline, in case I stuff it up. That way you can always go over it with filler and paint it. 

Edited December 26, 2016 by KeithW

[Tigersteve]

I would use a dot of wood glue at all the frames/bulkheads. Clip it at the bow with your binder clip- and hold and press the plank for a few minutes. Flip the boat over and clean any excess glue with a smIll brush and water before it dries. The wood glue should get dry quickly enough to hold. No expert by any means. Just my two cents.

Steve

[Sunsanvil]

Well, we officially have a planked hull. In the end I just held the shutter with my hands for 25 minutes each.

 

 

 

 

I edge glued every one so after the first sanding there isn't actually a ton of filling to do. It's remarkable how solid it feels at this point.

 

I will do a bit of crack filling, another cursory sand, and then comes the moment of truth: popping it off the building frame...

[Keith_W]

Very nice, Susan. For those remaining little gaps in the planking ... are you planning to stain, or paint? 

[Sunsanvil]

Right now I'm thinking stain. As it is there are many gaps/cracks with are "pre-filled" by proxy with the carpenters glue (allegedly stainable). I've just finished filling any remaining with filler (also allegedly stainable). Next step will be to pickup a small can of Golden oak and experiment on some spare bass wood, including some simulated gaps filled with the carpenters glue and filler and see how it looks.

[Tigersteve]

It looks fantastic. Good work. The rest should be more "relaxing". Don't forget to pre-stain before you stain. Very fine sanding before. Golden Oak usually turns out darker than people expect. My preference was to use the natural stain.

Steve

[Sunsanvil]

When you say natural stain, is that basically a clear stain? I guess I hadn't considered that because the instructions say that basswood is "not attractive" on its own. That and the fact that MSW used a markedly different color basswood for half the sheets. If you look at the latest pics you can see how the sheer and the next two are an almost redish color. I figured a tinted stain would homogenize things a bit.

 

I mentioned Golden Oak because I was super inspired by Capn Rat Fink's Launch. I especially liked the contrast of the dark walnut gunwale against the lighter hull.

 

What I'm really torn on is whether to go with classic MinWax or their waterbased one. I like the idea of soap and water cleanup but I know that there are certain things which just plain work better with good ol' solvent based formulas. Its not a trivial decision either as a couple shades, a pre-stain, and a finish clear are going to cost a cool C$40 either way.

Edited December 30, 2016 by Sunsanvil

[Tigersteve]

The natural stain is not a clear stain. It will darken the wood. Even the pre-stain will darken the wood a little bit. If you scroll through my log you will see the results of the pre-stain and natural stain on basswood. Some of the photos show the wood better. http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/14395-18th-century-longboat-by-tigersteve-model-shipways/page-1#

 

Depends on your preference. Do some tests and see what you like. I have all oil based Minwax except for the polycrilic.

Steve

Edited December 30, 2016 by Tigersteve

[Keith_W]

Oops, Brian picked it up. Sorry, I had misread your handle as "Susan". Yeah I better play it safe too. 

 

In this post in my build log, I experimented with different stains. The stain that I eventually chose was a mixture of two. 

[Tigersteve]

Keith- your build of this is awesome. That's a log for all builders of this one to see.

Steve

[Sunsanvil]

Keith, yours and Cptn Rat's logs are my references here. I may take a page from yours and do a half stain half paint on the outside. To tree nail or not to tree nail...that's a question.

 

Does anyone sell pre-drawn walnut (or a 1/16 dowel)?

 

There has been some consternation over my username. Most friends just call me B.

[Sunsanvil]

Well I reached my New Years goal of getting the tween and kant frames in. I used the boil method on these and had dramatically fewer breaks compared to the curling iron method. I used mini binder clip which left a divot in each one since they were soft from the boiling but for the most part that should be hidden by the sheer clamp. At some frames though the clips left a slight dent on the outside of the sheer plank which I hope I can sand out.

I am using 3 braces as you can see since I had nightmares of the hull bowing out. Surprisingly there was very little but just to be safe I left them in place during the tween frame installation and will probably leave then on until the sheer clamp is in place at which time I figure it will be firm enough to hold its shape on its own.

I agree that 3 kant frames probably isn't enough but instead of adding more I simply spaced the 3 more evenly which looks more correct to me (the instructions would have you group the three close together leaving a large gap between them and the last main frame as well between them and the bow.

I also agree the mainmast feels too far back as instructed. Not surprising given some of the other..umm.. dubious aspects of the model. I will have to think long and hard about how I want to tackle that. The blocks and centre floor are not actually installed, rather they are just set in place to get a sense of the spacing.

Edited January 2, 2017 by Sunsanvil

[CaptainSteve]

Looking very nice, B. You can get clamp marks out easily by getting a piece of tissue paper, soaking lightly with a few drops of water and then clamp it over the errant mark. Hold it in place with a clothes peg over-night, and the clamp marks should disappear.

[Sunsanvil]

Thanks for that tip. What is the science behind it? The bit of moisture causes the wood to swell and evens out the divot?

[CaptainSteve]

Yer ... sounds about right. I'll go with that explanation.

[Sunsanvil]

Minor update.

Sheer clamp is in.



I really need to figure out what I'm going to use for stain. I don't feel like spending $50 on prestain, stain, polycrylic, and solvent cleaner. I tried some danish oil on a test piece but it doesn't have any real colour or depth. I thought I'd try some of the craft stain (Folk Art or Americana). I have their sealer from my wife's tole painting supplies I could use. Have to find some first (Michael's had everything but).

I am also really torn on the position on the main mast. As others have shown it looks so much more correct one thwart forward, but I'm afraid that's going to put the two sails too close together (I plan on displaying it with sails unfurled).

Edited January 19, 2017 by Sunsanvil

[Tigersteve]

It's looking good! The smalllest size of the stain is 8oz about $5 each. Pre stain $12 + wipe on poly satin $12. Looking at roughly $30 for these minwax products. I recommend the WOP over the polycrylic. (I've tried both and the Polycrylic has more of a shine to it). If you decide to go this route.

Steve

Edited January 18, 2017 by Tigersteve

[Sunsanvil]

The smalllest size of the stain is 8oz about $5 each. Pre stain $12 + wipe on poly satin $12.

 

This is Canada, multiply by 1.35.

[donrobinson]

Wait for awhile, the dollar will get better                  

[Tigersteve]

Oops! lol

[Cathead]

Hey, B, if that's your preferred name. Your build looks nice so far. I did this one as an early learning model and had many of the same issues, but it also taught me a lot about working around problems. I'd like to follow along and see where you take it.

[Sunsanvil]

I just took a peak at the launch used in the 1984 movie, and had a bit of a revelation when it comes to the masts question.

 

First, in their version, the positions of the masts seems to correspond with the kit plans, however...

 

The larger sail is seen on the forward mast, the smaller one aft.

 

I make no assertion as to what is more correct and such, but this does open up a new possibility at least.

 

B

[Sunsanvil]

Haven't made any progress over the past couple weeks. I've sort of hit a crisis of indecision.

 

Dont know what I want to do as far as stain/finish. I wanted to use LeeValley's linseed oil (Tried & True brand Danish Oil) because I'm familiar with it and have a bunch here but its just too light a finish. I've read you can tint it but that sounds like opening a can of worms. Tried & True makes stained versions of the oil but I cant find any in Canada.

 

Dont know what I want to do with the masts. Swapping them seems like an interesting approach but where no one else has explored this I'm nervous to go out on a limb like that.

 

I started fiddling with the parts for the quarter deck...for some reason it doesnt look right to me for the beams to rest against on the hull planks like the plans show. I'd have thought they should rest on top of the ribs.

 

If anyone can send some sage words to inspire me back on task it'd be much appreciated.

 

B

Edited February 3, 2017 by Sunsanvil

[Sunsanvil]

After a long hiatus I'm dusting this off, determined to finish it (I'm forbidden to buy any more kits until I do ). Ordering some cherry stain for the inside today with a plan to paint the outside.

 

On the subject of mast/sail position, I stumbled across this:

 

 

Granted it is smaller than our subject...on the other hand it is a credible "real" reference.

 

I think I might just kick convention aside and position the larger mast and sail fore, the smaller set aft. Thoughts?

[Tigersteve]

I think do what looks better to you. You have to live with it. Glad you're back at this. 

Steve