USF Confederacy by GaryKap – Model Shipways – scale 1:64

[Cathead]

Thanks for sharing. I agree that such times can make it hard to focus on a model, even if in theory it seems like a great escape from reality. I hope you'll be able to give thanks for good memories of your brother.

[Tigerdvr]

Sorry for your loss Gary, Peace be with you and your family.

 

[GaryKap]

Dirk, John, Cathead, and tigerdver, thank you for your kind thoughts.  And yes, I do have many things to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving.

 

<<Gary>>

[GaryKap]

I am continuing to work from Chapter Five – planking the hull above the wales. I didn't post a link to this chapter, so here it is: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Confed/Chapter%205.pdf I have planked up to the waist, most of the forecastle, and just under the gun ports on the quarterdeck. As I do this, I am gluing the edges of the planks to give the hull more strength. Also, I will not trim the ends of the planks until after I have sanded the surface of the hull. This will help me to prevent rounding the ends of the planks. Also, leaving excess plank beyond the hull helps when clamping and gluing.

 

At this point the hull strongly resembles one of those pictures of Noah's Ark that you might see in Bible picture books. Happily though, the planking so far appears to be correctly located horizontally and vertically. For example, at the waist the top edge of the plank is flush with 1/16 X 3/16 inch strip that forms the “rail”. So far, so good... Pictures below.

[JohnB40]

Looking good Gary,starting to look like a frigate. Nice progress on the construction. I'm still messing around with stern,just a bit more filling and fairing to go. Seems like I have been at this for quite some time.

[GaryKap]

 

Thank you for the "likes" CaptMorgan, rafine, JohnB40, and Tigersteve.  They are always appreciated.  John, I also feel like I have been working on this model for quite a while now...and I have BARELY gotten started!  I have pretty much completed the first layer of planking above the wales and she is looking increasingly like a frigate.  I really like the curves of the hull.  And I am now at a point where I am confident that there will be a completed model ship at the end of the process.  It's just a question of how good it will turn out.  Today the weather was mild so I took her outside to do the preliminary coarse sanding. 

 

<<Gary>>

 

[GaryKap]

I have finished the first layer of planking above the main wales and have also completed the second (final) layer for the main wales. I have yet to do the black strake and the channel wales. I have also sanded the planking with 120 and 320 grit paper. I have stained the necessary number of 5/32 x 1/32 inch wood strips that will become the black strake and channel wales, and will stain the hull planking above the main wales prior to installing these. I am doing this to minimize glue blotches that would prevent stain from going into the wood and that would be quite visible in the completed model. I like to give the stain several days to dry, and while I am waiting I will be working on the planking below the main wales. The other task that I will be working on is fairing the inside of the hull and reducing the width of the bulwarks. The instructions don't have me doing this until after construction of the stern and quarter galleries. But I know from experience that when I get to sanding the inside of the bulwarks I could easily damage those delicate parts at the stern.

 

Oh, and one piece of advice to future Confederacy builders – the kit supplies BARELY enough of the 5/32 x 1/16 inch strips. When I was finished with the second layer of the main wales, I only had two short pieces (around 4 inches each) left. So be careful and not wasteful...

 

Pictures below.

 

 

 

Edited December 12, 2017 by GaryKap

[Tigerdvr]

Lookin' good Gary. I sanded the inside of the bulwarks early also. I think that's a good idea.

I had to request additional 5/32 x 1/16 strips from M.E. Twice they sent me 1/16 x 1/8 instead. It took months for them

to send the correct planking. I had already purchased replacements from another source. Their CS varies greatly.

Sorry, I didn't mean to jump into your log but your warning to others is well based.

I just went through a hip replacement so construction has slowed down.

What color stain are you using?

 

Regards, Harley

[GaryKap]

Hi Harley -

Good to see that people actually READ the text and don't just look at the pictures; and (I guess) good to know that its not just me with the 5/32 x 1/16" strips.  I  thought that I might have to use a 1/8" wide strip for the last part of the main wales.  I have had good experience requesting replacement parts from Model Expo in the past. Sad to say, I will need to request a replacement sheet for the gun carriages.  The axle holes for the wheels (trucks?) are way off center.  I will wait until after the Christmas crush to do this, as there is certainly no hurry.

I am using Minwax Golden Oak stain. 

<<Gary>>

[GaryKap]

I have finally finished planking the hull below the wales and adding the second (final) layer for the main wales and channel wales. The pictures are below, but I would like to add some thoughts and recommendations for future builders.

 

I lulled myself into believing that Confederacy, although HUGE, would be an easy hull to plank. She is NOT. This is the fifth ship model hull that I have planked and the result is not even close to my best work. My fault...I did not follow the directions. (I did not understand their implication). On page 52, Chuck says “The forward end of the garboard strake should be glued to the center of bulkhead “E” as shown in the photo provided. It should not start forward of this bulkhead.” Well I disregarded this because the garboard strake ran nicely much farther forward. What I failed to realize was the resulting decrease of space at the bow necessitated a more severe taper at the bow of all planks in between. Also the shape of the hull is such that planks need to taper not only at the bow but also at the stern to Bulkhead 8 and then flare out again necessitating stealers between Bulkhead 8 and the transom. But the job is finished and most of my “fixes” are near the keel and will not be noticed in the completed model.

 

On a positive note, Chuck includes a “spiling guide” that he describes on page 51. This thing is WONDERFUL!! and results in a much smoother run of planks than would happen otherwise. I strongly encourage future builders to use it.

 

I also did a LOT of sanding the inside of the bulwarks to decrease their thickness but still have a ways to go. Another caution for future builders. When you do this, do NOT sand “freehand” just holding the sandpaper against the surface. The plywood bulkhead extensions are much harder than the soft basswood gunport frames and freehand sanding would create concave surfaces between the bulkhead formers that would make planking difficult. My solution was to glue sandpaper to a piece of plywood 1/8 inch thick and 3” x 3” to get the smooth even surface down to the false decking.

 

I will continue to work sanding the inside of the bulwarks. I also need to add the fancy molding along the hull. I am still undecided about whether to treenail or not. Then I will start on the Stern and Quarter Galleries.

 

 

[russ]

Gary:

I think you are not giving yourself enough credit. I have planked a few hulls and I can tell you that there is always something I wish I had done differently or better. Your planking looks pretty good in the photos.

 

I understand the issue you mentioned and I have had to consciously work on not letting the garboard creep too far forward. I like to mark the run of the planks on the frames and along the stem to try and make sure of the space I have versus the number of planks. It is never easy though. I think you are doing good work on your planking. 

 

Russ

 

 

[JohnB40]

Looks very nice Gary. You have been making great progress with the build.

I'm just about to fit the battens to frame the gun ports. So at my present pace,I should be where you are about this time next year!

[Jim Rogers]

Looks great Gary. The Admiral told me today she really likes the look of the Confederacy and I can purchase it with my tax return. Good work Gary 😜

[Landlubber Mike]

Looks really nice from here Gary, don’t be too hard on yourself!  It’s very nicely done!

 

Are you planning to paint or stain the hull below the wales?  At first I thought you painted it white to simulate the white stuff, but I’m guessing it’s the natural basswood?  Whatever it is, it’s a nice contrast to the other colors of the hull.

[alde]

Hey Gary, the hull looks pretty darn nice to me. As the builder you are looking at it with a very critical eye. Once you move on the the next step any imperfections will fade into the distance. 

Edited January 29, 2018 by alde

[GaryKap]

Thank you guys for the "likes".  They are always welcome and give me encouragement.  And thanks to Russ, John, Jim, Mike, alde, and Dirk for your comments.  It is probably true for each of us that we are our own worst critic...except for the Admiral, that is.  Jim, I will be looking for your build log.  Mike, the color below the wales is just the naked basswood; not even finish sanded yet.  Dirk, I appreciate your watchful eye, but in this case I think you are mistaken.  Take a look at the Instructions on page 65.  It says "There are three laser cut pieces for the rudder.  They are 1/4 inch thick (R1, R2, and R3)." Take a look at the plans and sheet H.  I believe I have the correct part in the right place.  Happily, it is not yet glued in so any change will be easy.  What do you think?

 

 

[JohnReid]

Really coming along nicely.Cheers! John.

[Tigerdvr]

Greetings Gary, I'm going though the same planking labor as you did. I did put the garboard strake in the right place but still am running into extremes of tapering. As another builder already said, don't sell yourself short, your Confederacy is doing just fine. Try stepping back a foot or two, the model will look much better than if you look at it through a monster macro lens. The planking below the wales is indeed, IMHO, a real challenge particularly if you try to stay within the general rules of authentic building. 

This is supposed to be fun!

Regards, Harley

[GaryKap]

Dirk, I really do appreciate having you there looking over my shoulder.  I would much rather go through the thought process as we did above than make some major error in my construction.  Like we say here in the U.S.  "If you see something, say something!"  and that applies equally to model ship building.  In the near future I hope to be doing the stern and quarter galleries and I will be looking to you for guidance after the stunning job you did on your Confederacy build.

 

John, thank you for your kind words.

 

Harley thanks for your thoughts.  Jeez; when they said this kit was for advanced builders, I thought they meant advanced in years  .  My advice is to plank the third belt from the top down.  That way you can hide your planking mistakes along the bottom near the keel.  You, me, and the other Confederacy builders all try to do the very best job that we possibly can and when our result does not measure up to our expectations we can get frustrated.  Thanks to you all for letting me vent.