English Pinnace by MEDDO - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:24

[MEDDO]

Thanks Steve.

 

I am still working on thinning down the coats of paint and I can see the improvement in the look even from the risers to the thwarts.  Maybe in a few years will be able to achieve color consistency like in the instructions.

[MEDDO]

Just dry fitted to see how they are coming.  Still more coats to do.

 

[MEDDO]

Got the seats as well as the planking spacers in.  Tomorrow will be attempting the rest of the inner planking.

 

[MEDDO]

Internal planking was the hardest step so far.  After a couple of days banging my head against the wall of trying to get the planking of the bow correct I gave up.  I thought I was pretty good at bending (both edge and otherwise) but I could never get this wood to get around that curve.  The wood just kept splitting and folding and it looked horrible.  I choose to do the same thing that Mike Y did and just placed a "wall" up front which helped and was so much easier.  An initial few coats of paint and it is starting to look a bit better.

 

Looking forward to the next few steps

 

[vossiewulf]

The degree to which you can bend wood is a function of how hot you get it for how long, at high temperatures the lignin that provides the strength of the wood structure gets progressively more flexible. The hotter you get it, the more you can bend it without fracture. That's why steam is much better for serious bending as it gets the wood considerably hotter without burning than other options.

 

She looks fine as is with the bow planks covered, so no worries, just something for the next time around. Good steam cleaners that produce lots of steam on demand are pretty cheap these days, and all you need is a clear plastic tube to attach to the output end of one of those and you have a perfect plank steamer. Leave them in there for 15-30min and you'll be able to tie bows with them. Ok you won't be able to tie bows with them but you can bend them around very tight curves. Look up Kortes' boier build, it's apparently against the law in the Netherlands for a boier yacht to have a straight line anywhere, and their hulls are closing in on being circular. He had to do lots of severe wood bending for that, all done with steam.

[MEDDO]

Great info Vossie. I did wet/steam/incrementally bend those pieces but never could get it done enough to sit correctly.  I was able to easily do it with scrap wood I had laying around.  Pear/cherry/I think it was holly were all able to bent into that curve but I could never get the kit wood to make the 3 dimensional curve.  After spending 4 days trying I thought I would just move on.  I am still being stubborn and only using the kit contents

[vossiewulf]

4 hours ago, MEDDO said:

After spending 4 days trying I thought I would just move on.  I am still being stubborn and only using the kit contents

Isn't this another kit that was designed by Chuck Passaro? You're right that you solved the problem well and are moving on, but out of curiosity's sake and future needs, you might could drop him a PM and see if he has any input on bending the wood that MSW is including in the kits these days. You're right, woods have different fundamental bending processes and you could do everything right and still have problems with certain woods.

 

The beauty of the steam cleaners is that you just tell the admiral you're buying an excellent tool for cleaning bathrooms and kitchens to total sterility, and she approves and awards you a medal of bravery  

[MEDDO]

New tools are always welcome!  I feel I am incredibly lucky to have found the magic words that allow me to buy anything I want.....  “Shoes and purses “    With those three magic words I can pretty much buy anything I want without any hassle questioning or guilt trip.

[Tigersteve]

I had trouble with this area of the project as well. I used maple for most of the project but for the inboard planking I used basswood. I think I also shaped the wood from a larger piece. That was a difficult curve. See post #116 in my log. 

Steve

[MEDDO]

There was probably enough space on the large sheet provided with the kit to pre cut an already shaped plank but after all those attempts I just went this way.  It will be much less noticeable once the cap rail and the knee are in....I hope

[MEDDO]

Super fuzzy looking up close but irl not bad for basswood.  Was able to use scraper to get somewhat of a moulding there on the caprail.

 

 

 

[MEDDO]

Been dealing with an illness with one of our dogs since last week. She has been in the icu with something called “immune mediated hemolytic anemia “.   She needed a few blood transfusions and now is on a ton of meds but seems to be doing a bit better.  All this veterinary care is a new thing for me as I am a specialist (I only take care of one kinda animal in my practice haha).  At least it has been a lesson to the kids about how staying in school and studying hard gets you a good job so you can pay for stuff like this.  I am sure she would not have made it without the excellent care she received and the job to pay for it.  (Which I am happy to pay for as opposed to all the other crud the kids want to spend $ on).

 

I was able to get a few coats of paint on the caprail.  I am having a bit of trouble blending it in to the previously painted inner planking.  While thinning down the caprail I did scuff that up a bit but I think will even out with a few more coats.

 

a picture of her until I can get home a get a pic of the boat.

 

[SandyBay]

A lovely looking dog...but why is every illness a dog gets so painfully expensive?

[MEDDO]

27 minutes ago, SandyBay said:

A lovely looking dog...but why is every illness a dog gets so painfully expensive?

Thanks.  At the least I have put a moratorium on any new shoes and purses for a while.  Very expensive.  A human with the equivalent problems would be nearing 100k by now.  Maybe need to look into doggy insurance in the future.

[MEDDO]

as promised

 

[MEDDO]

I think I may stop taking up close photos.  Everything looks so fuzzy...

 

Just a dry fit for the bottoms of the internal frames

 

Cheers

[MEDDO]

A bit more progress

 

[MEDDO]

Finished the inboard details.  Here are a few pictures

 

 

 

Next up is the outboard details including the frieze and rail, splash boards, rudder/tiller assembly and the flying transom.  Then its just the oars and display I think. 

 

[MEDDO]

Thanks for all the likes.  

 

I just realized I painted the edge of the caprail earlier.  I am not sure if I will be able to sand it off as it only hangs over just a bit.  I cut out one of the frieze and held up a bit of the moulding I used for the internal panels to see how it looks.  Will thin out the rail a bit as it seems overly large.

 

[MEDDO]

Moving on to the splash panels I found a pretty big mistake.  Need to learn to read the plans, read the plans then read the plans some more BEFORE taking the next step.  

 

So when I made the rear seat I left the edges overhanging.

I got the general shape from the instruction manual template

 

One thing I never noticed was when I was placing the caprail that it basically stopped at the setback.  I then added another piece to finish off the rear cockpit caprail behind the seat.  Worked out great.

 

Now for the problem.  I am now going to try to fit the splash panels and find the overhang is in the way.  On the PLANS it is quite clear the splash panels extend aft of the seatback.  

 

 

Ug....  There are multiple ways to go about this that I can think of.

 

1)  Easiest would be to just leave it off.  Someone here on MSW went that way and their build looks great.  Also see 

 

NMM example

 

and Rodgers Collection

 

This leave a nice clean look but less interesting.  Also was trying to build this straight outta the box so there's that I guess.

 

2)  Option number 2 is to just add the splash guard in front of the seatback and shape so it flows nicely.  Someone else on MSW took that route.  The kit has a spare panel I painted up to see what it would look like.

 

Not bad I guess.

 

3) try to cut a notch into the panel and fit it around the seatback.

I think this may end up looking kinda busy and weird so not really a fan of this one.

 

4)  I could try to carefully shave down the seatback and place the splash panels where they are supposed to be but then I would also have to drop in a small filler piece to join the fore and aft caprails together.  This might work using wood putty/sawdust over the filler piece and some careful painting.  This is the most dangerous if I mess up the seatback because I cannot replace that. I am also not sure I can blend in the filler piece well.

 

Welp there you have it....  Lesson learned....  Read the plans AND understand them before proceeding.

 

Need to think on this for bit

 

 

 

 

 

[Tigersteve]

I think go with option two, but shape the rear of the panel so it transitions smoothly into the seat back. 

Steve

[MEDDO]

4 hours ago, Tigersteve said:

I think go with option two, but shape the rear of the panel so it transitions smoothly into the seat back. 

Steve

Thanks Steve for the input.  I was leaning toward this option as well.  Tomorrow I will be able to blend it in and test fit it to see how it goes.

[MEDDO]

Made the oars (just dry fitted for now), oarlocks (also dry fitted), got the ironworks and nails done and can ship the rudder (but am leaving it off for now).  Working on the flying transom next.

 

 

 

[MEDDO]

I am going to eventually case this and I am not sure how I will present it but at this point I am going to call this complete.  Basically this was an attempt to build straight out of the box with no extras and using minimal tools. Tools used were just an 11 blade, a 1/4 inch chisel, forceps, mini file set, digital calipers, sand paper, cheep clamps some glue and paint (I think that's all).   I think it came out ok.  This was also my first planking job using Chucks edge bending techniques and proper spieling without drop planks or stealers (other than when I ham fisted and broke off a plank end at the stern and put in a 4mm wedge to replace the split plank end).  There was a lot of learning going on here and I think it was a fun build overall.

 

Will probably also put these in the gallery at some time.

 

 

 

Next up planning for to move onto the Queen Anne style Royal Barge from Syren.

 

Thanks all for following along with me and for all the likes and comments.

 

 

 

[Tigersteve]

Nicely done. 

Steve

[MEDDO]

Thanks Steve.

 

[Ryland Craze]

Congratulations on completing your Pinnance.  You did a nice job on building this model.  I have enjoyed following your build log.

[druxey]

Well done to get through your first build successfully. A great learning experience for you, I'm sure.

[MEDDO]

Thank you Ryland and thank you Druxey.  I feel like every step of the way I was learning something new.

 

 

edit: Druxey this was not quite my first build but it was the first time I tried to do it properly haha

Edited May 24, 2019 by MEDDO

[Blue Ensign]

Well done Michael on completing this testy little model, I like the dark red paint colour, she looks very nice.

I didn't make a full case for my Pinnace, just ordered a plain acrylic cover to sit over it.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.