America by gsdpic - FINISHED - BlueJacket Shipcrafters - 1/48 scale

[gsdpic]

Interesting comments about the coppering.  I can see both sides, and having done it once I feel like I could do better next time, if there was a next time.   I think I'll avoid the issue by building only small work boats that never had copper on the originals.

 

As for my build, the copper was already getting darker and a bit more even color.  I was liking the way it looked and decided to apply a few coats of satin clear, and I think it looks even better now.   So I am actually getting happier with the way it turned out.

 

I've also done the rudder, and glued it on, and started work on the cockpit.   I've cut the floor of the cockpit and also carved the tiller from a piece of mahogany.  In the picture below it is just stuck into the rudder, not glued yet.   My rudder post did not really line up with the cockpit the way it should, only about half of it intersects the cockpit floor.  But this will be hidden under the bench so is not a big deal.     Here's a picture of the tiller and one of the coated hull with the rudder in place.

[Kevin Kenny]

Laminating the sides and seat can be challenging but looks fantastic when done. Boat looks great

[gsdpic]

I have made some progress on the cockpit but more to do.  The kit came with a (kind of cheesy) strip of plywood to bend around the cockpit as the vertical wall.  It was a half inch wide and I think my cockpit is deeper than it is supposed to be, so it was not wide enough.  I used that as my excuse to pitch it.  Instead, I cut a bunch of lengths of 1/16th x 1/4 mahogany and stood them on end (sanding down one edge a bit for better fit) and placed them around the cockpit.

 

The kit also provided some laser cut grating for the cockpit floor, which I used.

 

I've started to build the companionway, but have more work to do on it.  I have not started on the seat and I'll also put some sort of cap rail around the top of that cockpit wall.  The kit includes a dozen or so britannia metal stanchions to use to hold the seat up, which I will probably use (after painting a reddish brown).

 

I've also not applied any finish to these bits....the color of the cockpit sides is pretty good, but the mahogany I am using for the companionway is a bit pale and yellowish, as I mentioned before, so will likely stain it a bit.

 

Below are pictures of the three things I described above.  I am getting anxious to wrap up this part of the project and work on planking the deck.

 

 

[gsdpic]

I have now completed the cockpit's companionway/hatch.  I have also made the cap rail for the cockpit but have not installed it yet as I figured it may get in the way when putting the seat in.   I am still trying to decide the best way to do the seat.  The instructions just say "make the seat of mahogany" without any other hints.  

 

I applied stain to the cockpit area and companionway to match the other deck bits...you can see some of the cockpit wall the stain absorption was affected by glue.   The seat should hide at least some of that.

 

Anyway, here are a couple pictures of the companionway.  Seems for some reason the blackening did not have much affect on one of the door knobs.  Might have to try that again.  I might also try to clean up the wood around the hinges...it seems the blackening of the hinges also darkened the nearby wood.

[mojofilter]

Gary,  Very nice!  I personally like the 'staining' of the wood around the hinges.  Also think the knob looks fine the way it is.  She is really coming together nicely.  -Tim

[gsdpic]

Cockpit

 

First, thanks for the looks and likes and thanks Tim for the comment.  I did clean up around the hinges despite what you said, and the "knob" darkened on its own without me doing anything else to it.

 

I am now done with the cockpit, and this time I managed to take pictures along the way.  Here's what I did, with pictures of each step to follow.

 

1. Cut some small pieces of mahogany the same height as the stanchions and glued them around the inside of the cockpit to support the seat.

2. Painted and installed 10 stanchions.  The kit supplied 12 but I thought 10 looked like enough and wanted a couple spares in case I lost or broke one.  The supplied stanchions are britannia metal.  I primed them, then dug up some old brown paint to paint them, then brushed on some tamiya acrylic "clear red" to give them a little more reddish brown look.  After all that, they are almost invisible once the seat is installed.

3. Installed a seat base.  This was cut in three sections and shaped to fit into the cockpit.  Drilled holes for the pins at the top of the stanchions.  Also installed a little trim strip around the outer edge of the seat.

4. Painted the seat base black.

5. Cut and glued on a bunch of slats on the seat.  Once dry, sanded the inner edge to the edge of the seat base then installed a trim strip around the inner edge of the seat and sanded everything a bit again.

6.  Finished trimming the seat.  Glued on the cap rail around the top of the cockpit (made from three sections of mahogany), then glued in the companionway and the tiller.

 

Next I'll stain and finish these new parts of the cockpit and glue on the other deck furniture. 

[gsdpic]

Time for a Break

 

I got the finish applied to the cockpit, so I got out the "real" camera and took a little more care with some photos, to show the current state of this project.  At this point, I need to clean up the shipyard a bit.  Other obligations for the next few weeks will probably keep me away, so I'll likely not be able to work on the deck planking until Oct 1 or so.  Here are the pictures:

 

 

 

[Kevin Kenny]

She is really looking beautiful . The inside molding on the seat would not be done that way simply because you would not be able to sit right back . But that’s nitpicking. First class model

[gsdpic]

1 hour ago, Kevin Kenny said:

She is really looking beautiful . The inside molding on the seat would not be done that way simply because you would not be able to sit right back . But that’s nitpicking. First class model

Thanks...yea, that is probably true, even though at scale is it barely more than an inch wide.  I should have made the trim flush with the top of the bench.  By the same token, the inside of the cap rail probably should have been flush on the inside so the back of the bench was smooth.

[gsdpic]

Back in the Saddle

 

So, after a bit of a break, I have resumed working on my America.  I have started the deck planking.  As noted earlier, I bought some cherry strip wood for the deck planking, just to give the deck a bit of a nicer, richer color.   I started from the center, which means doing a bunch of short planks between the various bits of deck furniture.  Once I get away from the deck furniture, I plan to use 5 inch long pieces, which works out to deck planks that are 20 feet long.  I'll stagger the butts of course though have not decided on a pattern just yet.

 

I have 7 planks done from the aft side of the forward hatch all the way to the stern.   I have more work to do around the cockpit, and some very short planks between the forward hatch and the skylight, and then it will likely move a bit faster.

 

Oh, I pre-finished the deck planks, using the same tung oil finish that I used on the deck furniture.  I'll likely still go back and do one more coat after all the planks are installed, but I still think it was a useful thing to finish these planks before putting them on.

 

Here are two pictures of what I have completed.

 

[gsdpic]

More Deck Planking

 

Thanks for the looks and likes.   I've continued the deck planking, and have now completed the aft section of the deck.  I have not been nibbing my planks...I think these planks are probably wider than scale and to properly nib I think I would have needed wider waterways.  Even though I pre-finished the planks, I ended up sanding parts of them down.  So I applied another coat of the tung oil finish before taking the pictures.  I may apply another coat or two once I have the entire deck planked.  Enough boring words, here are two pictures:

Oops, I feel the need to add a few more boring words.....You can see that I planked right over the hole for the main mast, though I did mark its location.  I also went with a 3-way shift on the deck plank butts.   So I had three lengths of planks next to the grub beam....1 2/3 inches, 3 1/3rd inches, and 5 inches.

[Kevin Kenny]

Hi Gary

since there is no known confirmed plan of the boat there is no way of knowing the size of the deck planks. Having said that they do look a bit over size. In terms of your approach to planking i found it much easier to plank the entire deck except the cockpit placing the various fieces of deck furniture on top of the deck. This allows for a clean line bewteen the deck and the deck furniture. The only area where this was not possible was at the cockpit .  i had to instally a moulding to get a clean transition between the external wall of the cockpit and the deck. She looks beautiful and you should be very proud.

[gsdpic]

On 10/8/2018 at 6:08 AM, Kevin Kenny said:

Hi Gary

since there is no known confirmed plan of the boat there is no way of knowing the size of the deck planks. Having said that they do look a bit over size. In terms of your approach to planking i found it much easier to plank the entire deck except the cockpit placing the various fieces of deck furniture on top of the deck. This allows for a clean line bewteen the deck and the deck furniture. The only area where this was not possible was at the cockpit .  i had to instally a moulding to get a clean transition between the external wall of the cockpit and the deck. She looks beautiful and you should be very proud.

Thanks for the comment, Kevin.  The deck strips were 3/16th, same as supplied by the kit, but that would be 9 inches in real life which does sound pretty wide. 

 

I assume that the method of attaching the deck furniture first and planking around it was a nod to the plank-on-frame construction and those who may not completely plank the model.  Doing a molding around the cockpit is a good idea, though I am not unhappy with what I have in that area now. 

[gsdpic]

Deck Planking Complete

 

I've completed planking the deck and gave it a couple coats of finish.   It is not perfect, not as smooth as it could be and probably not as accurate as could be, but I am still happy with the results.  I'll be glad to finally get the cap rail on to give it a more finished look.  I am not sure if I'll do that next, or just what my next step will be.  There are a few other bits and pieces I need to attach to the hull and deck.    The next big step will be working on the masts and booms and gaffs.

[Kevin Kenny]

She looks beautiful, a rich deep mahogany look.

 

[gsdpic]

Thanks for the looks and likes.   Progress has slowed to a crawl as I have been occupied by other things lately.  The picture below represents pretty much all of the progress I have made in the last three weeks.  I cut the two masts to the proper length, and began tapering the fore mast (the lower one in the photo).   It is close, though it still needs some sanding.

[gsdpic]

I'm still out here, very, very slowly making progress.  I've been shaping the masts, gaffs, and booms.  Oddly, the kit did not include a dowel for the jib boom, so I picked one up at the local hobby shop.   I also sent an email to bluejacket suggesting they correct that.

 

Below shows the current state of things....the two masts, the top section of the main mast, the fore and main gaffs, and the main boom.  I am still working on shaping and sanding the main boom.  On the two gaffs, I probably have some more work to do on the end of the gaff that is closest to the mast but I am waiting to do that when I make the jaws.  The only remaining one is the jib boom mentioned above.  I also need to add a variety of cleats and such to these, then they will be painted white for the most part, though sections of the masts are left natural, which I will likely stain to darken them just a bit.  I see now in the picture the main mast appears to not be completely straight...maybe it is just an illusion.

[gsdpic]

The Eagle has Landed....or been painted

 

I am still out here, working a bit on the America now and then.  Doing a lot of little steps like shaping the gaffs and booms and putting on cleats, etc. and also some stuff on the deck and hull, like putting on eyebolts and cleats.  I've also been doing some experiments regarding mast hoops and ships boats.  But none of that stuff is too interesting to show or in the case of the experiments, not successful enough

 

But I also worked on painting the eagle that is on the transom.  The Bluejacket kit provides the eagle in cast brittania.  It actually looked fairly good and fairly accurate, so I have been working on painting it.  I cleaned and primed the metal, then painted it mostly with Tamiya acrylics, though for some colors I used some testor's enamel.  Basically, I used whatever I had laying around from other projects.  After it dries for a day or two I'll probably shoot it with some of the clear spray acrylic I used elsewhere to even out the finish.  Below is a picture of my painted eagle, and also a picture of the real eagle, taken from the book "The Low Black Schooner".

 

[ESF]

A lot of hard work to date and very well done.  A very rich looking model.

 

Steve

[gsdpic]

Back to the Trailboards

 

Progress has been very slow of late.  I took a little hiatus for another project, and otherwise have been quite busy.   Some time in the last week or 10 days was the 2 year anniversary of starting on this project.

 

I resumed working on the trail boards.  Not sure why but I have some obsession about not using the cast parts even though they look decent and even though the painting of the cast eagle worked out well.   So I went through a couple more iterations of doing some carving and painting.  I think I have some now that I'll use, though who knows I might look at them next week and decide I can do better.  

 

1.  Here is the blank that I started with  (Pear wood).   I used a paper pattern that I fit over the model rather than the exact shape of the cast parts.  I think my hawse pipe was a little farther aft than intended so my trail board is a little longer.

2.  I started with a cut around the inside edge, to form a lip around the trailboard.

3.  I then used various chisels to remove some wood from the inner section to form the lip, and sanded that down.  I then used a v-shaped gouge to create a main "stem".

4.  And then I used a small rounded gouge to create "leaves" along the stem.  And then repeated the process for the other side.

5.  Here is an alternate design I did earlier, with some more simple scroll work instead of the stem/leaves.   You can see one of those broke during production. 

6.  And here they are painted black and gold.  I'll likely use the ones on the left.  Seems no one is sure of the actual original design but they seem to be a little closer to most (but not all) of the contemporary paintings.  I do wish that the lip around the outer edge was a bit thinner, and for these I was carving the design into the wood, where my previous attempt carved away the background so that the design stood out instead of being indented into the wood.  Doing the latter is more difficult especially if trying to leave a lip around the outer edge.  You can see on the "alternate" design, I attempted to glue a very thin strip of wood around the outside to form the lip but that presented its own problems.  Sounds like I am convincing myself to try again.  I did pretty much all of this carving by hand, though I also experimented some using a rotary tool.

 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2019 by gsdpic

[gsdpic]

One more try with the trailboards

 

I could not resist.  I made another pair of trailboards, my last I swear.  I made them a little thinner, with the outer edge thinner, and made them less of a semi-circle and a little more of a Nike "swoosh" shape, for lack of a better term.   They look better in real life...this is definitely a case of the close up photography not being my friend. 

 

 

 

[Kevin Kenny]

Very well done. I know how difficult this was to do as i too made a set for my America build.

[SandyBay]

I’ve just read your log from beginning to end and I’m just blown away by the sheer amount of work involved to get your model to where it is now. Did you (or your admiral) ever work out how those cherry strips mysteriously ended up in your online shopping basket.

[gsdpic]

4 hours ago, SandyBay said:

I’ve just read your log from beginning to end and I’m just blown away by the sheer amount of work involved to get your model to where it is now. Did you (or your admiral) ever work out how those cherry strips mysteriously ended up in your online shopping basket.

Thanks, that is still a mystery.   I kind of lost steam on this project, as the beginning of the year is busiest for me at work.   I expect to have some free time coming up so hoping to get back into it soon.

[gsdpic]

A Little Progress

 

Apologies for the glacial pace of this build of late.  Every once in a while I find some time to work on the America.  Of late, I have been working on finishing out the deck fittings.   I used the pad eyes from the kit and placed them on the deck as shown in the plans.  I tried to blacken them, but they turned more of a strange pinkish brown so I then painted them as well.   I also scratch made some cleats instead of using the metal ones supplied in the kit, and scattered those around the deck.   And I did the hawse pipe openings for the anchor chain.  Finally, the biggest change to the appearance is that I completed the cap rails.   I used quarter inch wide strip wood for most of the cap rails, with some other pieces cut from 2 inch wide stock on the stem and stern.  All the wood was mahogany, though it was quite different in color and grain.   I used some stain to try to even it out a bit, with some success though it is far from a perfect match.

 

I have just a few other little bits of deck detail to do, then on to masts and rigging.   I have the masts and gaffs and booms all shaped though none of that is stained or painted.   I guess I will use the metal blocks from the kit and also use the rigging line from the kit though I will attempt to dye the white rigging line more of a brown/tan color.

 

Here are a couple pictures of the current state.

 

[gsdpic]

More Deck Details

 

I created some brackets for the removable davits for the anchors and the boats.  I've installed the two for the anchors.  The brackets are just little shaped pieces of mahogany with a short piece of blackened brass tube inserted in a hole in the middle of the bracket, then glued to the edge of the cap rail.

 

 

I have also been working on and off on building a couple of boats.   The plans indicate that America had two, either hung from davits, or lashed to the deck, or removed for races.   The kit does not have any provision for creating the boats but I thought it might be a nice added detail.   I have created, or at least started on, probably a half dozen of these little guys.   Each one is a little better than the prior one but still flawed.   I've been trying to create a small lapstrake boat of no particular design, about the right size.   My latest attempt is shown below in the position where it would be lashed to the deck.  I feel it is still a bit too large (and it is a bit bigger than what is shown on the plans) and this one has a bit of a skewed stem.  If I were to finish it, I would likely paint it white.  

 

Any thoughts, comments, suggestions?  I am tempted to just give up on this detail and leave them off, leaving America in "race configuration" with no boats.  Or maybe I'll try again, make it a bit smaller and narrower and make sure the stem is not allowed to flex while building the boat.

[BobG]

I have always loved the yacht America. This is a very impressive build of an advanced model and your craftsmanship is outstanding. Congratulations, Gary, I hope to see you complete this beautiful model.

[gsdpic]

2 hours ago, BobG said:

I have always loved the yacht America. This is a very impressive build of an advanced model and your craftsmanship is outstanding. Congratulations, Gary, I hope to see you complete this beautiful model.

Bob, thanks for the interest in my project, the kind words, and the encouragement.   A few times in the past I've checked your Pen Duick log and have been very impressed.   MSW is sort of a double (or even triple) edged sword.   I've learned a ton reading stuff here, but also have been humbled by the skill and knowledge and dedication of others, like yourself.  And I have spent far more time reading the website than working on my own project in the last year.

 

I have made little bits of progress here and there, and I really do hope to spend more time on it and finish things up.   I do have one small excuse....7 months ago (almost to the day) I stole the chair from the shipyard for my "temporary" work-from-home office set up, which I have used every week day since.  So dragging a chair around from one room to the other has become one other small hurdle to resuming work on it.

[gsdpic]

On the Road Again

 

So, after a very, very long break I have actually started working on the America again over the last week or two.  One thing that caused me to hesitate was the need to make a few decisions.

 

1.  Rigging line:  The Bluejacket kit supplies line, of course, and it looks pretty decent.  The main negative is that the running rigging line is pure white.  I really feel like it needs to be stained or dyed.  I was unsure about doing that, or just ordering some replacement line from Syren.  I have decided to use the line provided.  I purchased some brown dye though I have not tried it out yet.  The Bluejacket website describes the line that they sell as cotton and indicates that the white stains easily, so I assume the same stuff is used in their kits and the dye will work fine.

 

2. Blocks and Deadeyes: The Bluejacket kit supplies Britannia metal blocks and deadeyes.  My initial reaction was to dislike them, though I can see some advantage, mostly in perhaps being a bit more detailed than one could accomplish with wood.   As with the rigging, I debated replacing them with wood blocks from Syren, but have decided to go forward with the ones supplied in the kit.  I will chemically blacken them, even though the plan sheet indicates using white for the blocks.  I just think that would be too painful.

 

3. Sails:   The Bluejacket kit does not provide material for sails.  But I have decided that I will at least attempt sails.  Just today, some sail material ordered from Bluejacket arrived, though I might also try making a sail from paper following some of the information elsewhere on MSW to see how that compares.   If neither looks good I'll leave them off, but I hope to be able to include them.   At least it only has 4 sails.

 

Feel free to provide any feedback on my decisions.  In a little while I'll complete another post summarizing where I am and what I have done during the last few days.

 

 

[gsdpic]

Progress Update

 

When I left off, I was working on trying to include a couple small boats on deck.  I have not completely abandoned that effort, but I have put it aside for now.  The following three pictures show what I have worked on.....

 

The first two are the two horses/travelers on the deck.   With that I am mostly done with the deck fittings.   I have not placed the galley stack yet, though am not sure if I will include it.  I also have not done the anchors and anchor chains and anchor davit.  I left out the "pump wells" as well...they were just little round pieces of Britannia metal that I did not think added anything.

 

The other picture shows the masts, bowsprit, booms, and gaffs.  I have painted and stained them and have just started working on adding some of the details like cleats and sheaves, though I have not completed any of them.  The main gaff is closest, lacking only jaws.