Armed Viriginia Sloop by JpR62 - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:48 - First wooden ship build

[JpR62]

Thanks Brian and all the likes.

As I'm waiting on the painting, I decided to open the sweep ports.

I carefully mark the position of the main opening and trace diagonal lines in a 45 degree angle.

I drill three holes, one bigger in the center and two others distant from 2 millimeters.

Then I open the space between the central hole and the two others holes with a cutter (x-acto blade No 11).

I use some walnut filler to draw a more regular size and shape. When the putty is dry I use a small piece of sandpaper to finish the work on the sweep ports.

The fourteen sweep ports are done. It was very hard to obtain identical shapes... But I can live with the result.

[JpR62]

The hawse holes are drilled.

I apply a layer of teak oil on the wales and on the black strakes.

I'm ready to apply the black color on the wales and the red color on the inside planking. I will keep the natural wood for the waterway.

And as I just received the acrylic colors, it will time for the painting phase...

 

[JpR62]

The painting phase is over. I used my old airbrush for this task. After protecting the parts that should not be painted, I applied a basecoat using the following colors : Surface primer 70 605 German Red Brown for the red parts and 70 602 Black for the wales and the fashion pieces.

 

Then I applied 6 light coats of acrylic paints during three painting sessions. I used a mix of Vallejo Model Air 71 084 Fire Red color and  71 003 Red color in the proportions of 3 parts of Fire Red for 1 part of Red.

 

For the black color, I mixed Black 71 057 with some drops of Game Color 72 720 Imperial Blue (a very dark blue) to give a little more shine to the color. I waited one day between each session.

 

Finally, the next day I applied a light veil of satin varnish diluted with a few drops of airbrush thinner always using my airbrush.

 

I can now begin the final planking of the hull. I will begin with the upper part.

 

[DocBlake]

The paint looks great!

[Ryland Craze]

Looking very nice.

[JpR62]

As I was traveling to Netherlands last weekend to accompany my brother-in-law who defended the colors of Switzerland at the European Brass Band Championship, I have not made much progress. But as they won the title, it was an unforgettable moment...

Let's take the course of my build : I begin the last planking of the upper hull. I have used 0.5 mm strips of walnut instead of the wood provided by the kit. The strips come from Marisstella and is more flexible. It's pleasure to use it.

I also opened the sweep ports.

I will probably use a strip of alaskan yellow cedar for the sheer strake. I just ordered it from Syren Ship Model Company and I know that I will receive it in the coming days because the service at Syren Ship Model is always perfect and fast.

 

[JpR62]

Thanks all the likes.

Waiting on my alaskan yellow cedar, I started to build the deck furnitures. Normally I must use a walnut 3/32" thick x 1/4" wide strip for the coaming, but I can't find it in the stock of strips delivered with my kit. Luckily, I found the solution in the excellent log written by GuntherMT:  I have glued together a .030" thick x  1/4" wide strip with a 1/16" thick, so I have obtained the required 3/32" thick strip. After this preparation, it's just a measurement  case. I have used a digital caliper to measure the different parts to build the furniture. I begin with the main-hatch coaming and the scuttle hatch coaming.

To bring out the joints between the planks, I marked one of the faces with a black Crayon brush Sakura Pigma. The result is interesting.

I just started the build of the Companionway with the coaming. This will be the next part of the deck details build...

 

As I quickly received my order from the Syren ship model company, I continued  with the pose of the sheer strake. I made it with a strip cut from an alaskan yellow cedar wood sheet. I will try to play on the contrast between the different kinds of wood to avoid having to paint the sheer strake.

I marked the junction between the four successive planks with a 2H pencil. This is unfortunately a little too pronounced in my opinion.

Next step to accomplish : the main cap rail.

 

 

[GuntherMT]

Looking good Jean-Paul.  On the joint, wait to see what it looks like after you sand it a bit to make the joints perfectly smooth and then see how pronounced it is.  The cedar looks nice!

 

I didn't do anything to make the joints on my deck furniture stand out, so it's interesting to see how yours looks.  Pretty good IMO.

[DocBlake]

I purchased a piece of alaskan yellow cedar 7" X 2" X 24" to play around with.  I'll see what others do with it, now that Chuck is supplying it.  It does look nice!

 

Good job on your AVS thus far!

[JpR62]

Thanks Brian, Dave and all the likes.

The build of the deck details is really a very pleasant job. The cedar is easy to work and the result looks good to me.I think the contrast with the black of the main rail will be nice. I hope so.

[JpR62]

This last week, I worked on the companionway. It took me longer than expected. It is not less than 57 pieces of wood that make up this deck detail. But I really enjoyed this step. As it is my first companion build, the Robert E. Hunt practicum has been very useful. I just followed precisely the different steps described in the manual. The digital caliper is essential to be as accurate as possible.

I just started the build of the grating hatch which will be the last component needed before I can start the main deck planking.

But before that I'll finish the main rail.

 

[JpR62]

Thanks captgino and Ryland Craze for the like.

I finished my first grating hatch. Not completely satisfied with the result, one of the sides of the grating not being really squared.

It's time to add the final details on these deck companions : eyebolts, ringbolts, hinges...

I started laying the main cap rail. I ran a problem with the fit of the rail at the bow and I had to cut it in two parts. I only used one of the two parts, the cap rail part at the bow being cut from the original walnut sheet. The joint between the two parts has been scarfed. The starboard main cap rail is already glued and the port back part is in progress...

 

[JpR62]

Thanks for all the likes.

I finished the planking of the upper hull. The main cap rail is in place on the two boards.

I have prepared the two cabin rails. Once the form is defined, I glued them temporarily on a  protective tape so that received several layers of paint using my airbrush. Always the same mix of colors: a few drops of Vallejo Black (71 057) color with some drops of Game Color (72 720) Imperial Blue (in a proportion of 7/3).

I still have to glue them in place...

 

[Jim Rogers]

Love the paint jog. Looks wonderful.

[DocBlake]

I think the upper hull planking turned out great!  Nice job!

[JpR62]

Thanks Jim and Dave for your support and thanks to all the 'Likes'.

I begin to appreciate the contrast between the black main rail and the yellow of the alaskan cedar used for the sheer strake.

 

The rails for the cabin/quarterdeck are now glued.

It's time to prepare the taffrail.

 

[JpR62]

Not a big step forward on my build. I just finished building companions.

As there will be 6 guns to build, I started the work by creating a small jig to help me to correctly position the different elements.

 

[JpR62]

As I was on the way of trenailing on the queen Anne barge, I decide to continue the same job with the Virginia Sloop. But this time, I try to apply the method described by Chuck in the Cheerful instruction manual.

For the schema, I referred to the photos in Clayton A. Feldman's book 'Modeling an armed Virginia Sloop'.  This book is truly a source of first rate information !

 

For the choice of the color of the wood putty, I hesitated between two shades: Golden oak or Natural Pine. Finally, I mixed the two shades in equal parts to obtain the color that seemed to me the most balanced. In order to better position the holes, I recovered the little jig used when working on the queen barge. I simply cut it to the length corresponding to the height of the gun ports.

The method is simple: using the little jig, I mark the location of the future holes with the needle holder.  The holes are drilled with a 7 mm drill bit. I round the hole with the tip of a sharp pencil. The there is more to fill the cavity with the wood putty using a toothpick beveled.

 

 

Edited August 2, 2018 by JpR62

[GuntherMT]

That's a nice added detail that I didn't do on my hull.  Looks good!

[JpR62]

Back from the holidays. My daughter is returning to school and my son is still in the swiss army for his obligatory service. Back to the workshop.

All guns are now completed. It was really a part of pleasure.

Very pleased with the quality of the guns from the Syren Ship Model company. Thanks Chuck.

Now it's time to finish the hull...

[GuntherMT]

I used the same guns, but make sure you do some test fitting as they sit slightly higher than the kit guns, so I needed to make some tweaks to make them fit in the gunports properly.  

 

I changed them in two ways as needed.  I made the slots where the trunions sit slightly deeper, and I sanded the bottom of the trucks flat, which I found not to be noticeable when they are finally fixed to the deck as long as you don't overdo it.

 

After making the adjustments, the qoins had to be carefully adjusted before fixing in place to get the barrels to be not pointed down.

 

Looking great Jean-Paul.

[JpR62]

Thanks Brian and all the Likes.

Brian, I will follow your advice and I will make the adjustments when the deck is finished. Normally this should be ok because a test was done with a piece of scrap wood (thickness of the deck planking) for the location of the quoin. I will sand the bottom of the trucks if necessary. Thank You for following my build.

 

[JpR62]

The final planking of the belt C is done.

I started by building a small support so I could work with the keel upside down.

Then I tried for this belt to follow precisely the plan.

At the stern, I inserted two stealers in accordance with the plan.

I will now work on the belt A

[JpR62]

Thanks for all the 'likes'.

I need an advice on the way I must work on the belts A and B.

I know approximately the shape of the two belts.

Based on the plan, I positionned a strip of tape to separate the two belts.

I will use the method described by Chuck Passaro in the Cheerful instruction manual.

So I measured using paper strips the size of the work area at each bulkhead. I just need to trace the separation between the twelve planks.

Normally I must separate the area (in the center of the hull) into twelve equals bands

The result implies that the width of the planks do not correspond to standard widths (4 mm or 5 mm). Each board should be debited to the correct size...

I have two others options. I can use standard strips of 5 mm for the three first rows under the blake strake and :

Option 1 : if I need to have two belts of the same size, the last 3 rows for the belt A will be of a different size of the 6 rows of belt B

Option 2 : I divide the 9 remaining rows in 9 rows of equal width. The belt A and the belt B will be of different width.

My question : which option to choose ? The first one seems to me the most adequate...

[GuntherMT]

I'm not sure any of my planks on the hull were 'standard' size.  I just used the tic strip method and cut the planks to whatever size was needed for each tic mark.  Not a single plank was just left at the exact size, although some of them probably had a small part of them at that size, but they would be tapered to match the marks based on the planking fan.

 

So my personal opinion is that you make the planks fit the hull using the tic marks, you don't try to figure out how to use 'standard' sized planks.

[JpR62]

Thanks Brian for your help. I will follow the tic strip method. This advice confirms what I thought.

[JpR62]

Using the tick strip method, I divide each strip in 12 sections of the same width. The planking fan greatly facilitates the task. All the marks were reported on each bulkhead.

Time to spill the planks...

[JpR62]

The second planking continues slowly but surely. Belt A is now complete and I started working on belt B. Since I don't like to work with cyanoacrylate and I only use wood glue (Titebond), the process takes time...

Nothing is really finished. It's just glued and there are many small gaps to fill and a lot of sanding. But this will be done once the second layer is completed.

[GuntherMT]

Looks good.  That's how I did it also, just wood glue.  The trick is getting each plank shaped and bent properly to fit in it's spot while dry fitting so that the glue isn't holding the shape, simply bonding it in place.

 

Good work!

[JpR62]

The second planking is finished. Now it's time to sand a little.

I need some advice for the next step. What should use to sand the hull ? Some sandpaper, or a sanding sticks, or a scrapper, or a sanding block ?

Which grain should I use ? 220 ? 300 ? Thank You in advance for your advice.