USS Lexington By zappto - FINISHED - Mamoli - 1:100 - first build

[zappto]

Hello, i was dreaming to build wood ship model for some time, but did not start for long time, i thought i will never finish it, as it is so delicate work. But i got for present a model kit USS Lexington. I got all the tools and started to work. Now it is 5 months of work on this model, it is taking a lot of time, it is my first model. Show you few photos.

The_Lexington 1776.

 

The_Lexington_1776 

 

In anticipation of the war against England, the merchantman Lexington was armed and converted into a Brigantine in 1775 to become part of the continental Navy. On April 17, 1776 she captured the tender Edward, the first British ship to be taken at sea by the Colonists. The following year she fought in the Bay of Biscay, the English Channel and the Irish Coast. On September 20, 1777 during her return trip from France, the Lexington was overtaken by the English cutter Alert. After a fierce gunbattle, Lexington ran out of ammunition and was forced to surrender.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To make nice gun holes not an easy task!

 

 

 

Life boat is painted.

 

Steering wheel is working.

 

 

 

 

 

Work is on progress, now rigging the ship.

 

 

[AntonyUK]

Hello Zappto.

Welcome to MSW.

Nice work on your Lexington. 

And yes it is not easy cutting the ports for the guns and getting them looking right. But what you have done looks great 😊

 

Will look in again to watch you progress.

Regards Antony.

[zappto]

Thank you, this is nice forum, i was reading it for some time, a lot of wonderful people. Now try to make all rigging. It is so hard to make all lines to go where it should go. Now making the last mast pieces which holds the sails, these will be hardest part, because it is attached only with wires to the mast. It is very interesting to see all puts together!

[zappto]

Now fasten the yards to the masts and making some rigging.

 

This is 1:100 ship, which makes rigging a challenge.

 

The Lexington 1776.

Edited August 7, 2017 by zappto

[Derek C]

Looks good zappto, I am new as well , I started a lot smaller though in fear It would not turn out like it should . But in a short time I found that I love this hobbie , now if I can get a bit more patience lol

[zappto]

thanks! Patience is the key, i was making the hull for two months, because i did not know how to place planks on the ends, placed it twice, later placed the ship to the box for one time, but get back after month of rest. Rigging is really interesting to put together and see how it was made back then!

[zappto]

Made first mast of the Lexington, to bad no flag included for this mast! give you few photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2017 by zappto

[AntonyUK]

Hi Zappto.

Very nice.

Your footropes are a little lose.( the ropes that are under the yards)

They run approximately 1/3 of a body length down from the yards.

I have used millinery wire for this as it can be bent into shape and it limos the part.(wire with a cotton winding)

You have made a excellent model for a first time builder. (You should have seen my first one.  It looked a mess).

 

All the best.

Regards Antony.

[zappto]

Thank you Antony, i was thinking about those ropes, they must hold the sails, which not included for the model, i will leave it like this for now, it is great idea to use millinery wire, will use that on the next build. This is getting so hot to work, summer is heating so much. I hope to find some time this week to work on it.

 

 

 

[AntonyUK]

Hi Zappto. 

Here is a picture from the Web on yards and parts.

Picture from Wooden Ship Modeling for Dummies

There purpose is to allow the crew to stand on the ropes while pulling the sails in and reefing the sails.

No safety lines in those days.

 

Regards Antony.

[zappto]

Oh, i will note that page, thank you for info, i still need to improve my rigging.

Edited August 11, 2017 by zappto

[zappto]

Work is going on, doing the second mast yards rigging. Show few photos.

 

 

Edited August 11, 2017 by zappto

[zappto]

Hi, this is my finish of the model, this was a pleasure to build this ship, all notes on the plans were nice, got a lot experience building. Few photos of the USS Lexington 1776.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 14, 2017 by zappto

[Paul Jarman]

Hi Zappto,

Cracking job as a first model. Gives you experience to move onto something a bit bigger.

It does take a while to build a good wooden kit. I allow at least 3-5 years to complete a model.

Paul

 

[zappto]

Thank you, yes building wood kit teach you a lot of patience, well, i might build new ship after some time, need to rest after this one!

[Larry Cowden]

On 8/6/2017 at 2:39 AM, zappto said:

Hello, i was dreaming to build wood ship model for some time, but did not start for long time, i thought i will never finish it, as it is so delicate work. But i got for present a model kit USS Lexington. I got all the tools and started to work. Now it is 5 months of work on this model, it is taking a lot of time, it is my first model. Show you few photos.

The_Lexington 1776.

 

The_Lexington_1776 

 

In anticipation of the war against England, the merchantman Lexington was armed and converted into a Brigantine in 1775 to become part of the continental Navy. On April 17, 1776 she captured the tender Edward, the first British ship to be taken at sea by the Colonists. The following year she fought in the Bay of Biscay, the English Channel and the Irish Coast. On September 20, 1777 during her return trip from France, the Lexington was overtaken by the English cutter Alert. After a fierce gunbattle, Lexington ran out of ammunition and was forced to surrender.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To make nice gun holes not an easy task!

 

 

 

Life boat is painted.

 

Steering wheel is working.

 

 

 

 

 

Work is on progress, now rigging the ship.

 

 

Hi Zappato,

I have this kit on my shelf awaiting building. As you are well into this build, can you give me a list of problems you may gave encountered with the kit? Material deficiencies? Instructions? Drawing errors? Quality of parts? I always like to research models in progress by builders before jumping in. Always an amazing amount of information I am getting from them. Even enough to steer clear of a certain maker or scale. Thanks!

[zappto]

Hello, this is a very delicate build, because all wood is very thin, need to be careful when cutting a gun holes, it is very fragile. It is a nice ship, you will have fun building it. If i build it now, i would ad more colors for the main deck. Good luck!