Charles W Morgan by texxn5 - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:64

[themadchemist]

make it a BIG RV with an expandable hobby room

Mom and dad have a Huge RV with 2 expandable rooms. The queen size bedroom and living room. Its bigger then Tam and my first place.

[texxn5]

I think if I started to even load the ship onboard the RV I'd have a mutiny on my hands......I used to have a 40' 5th wheel with 3 slide outs .... wish I still had it...

[augie]

Glad to see you getting her started.....the Morgan that is!

 

Tough break there only being with your Admiral for 5 months.  Mine's been around her for 40 odd years so all I ever need do is give her 100% of my attention for more than 1 day and she begins to ask 'aren't you going out or have a new project to start'   

[gjdale]

I'm with you there Augie, though its only 30 odd years for me (not that odd really ). Mine often comes in the form of, "when did you say you were going away again?"

[themadchemist]

28 years in sept here. Last apr 16 was the anniversary of our first date, 31 years. High school sweethearts.

 

The 40'er 5th wheel would be nice to have now. Its amazing how nice RV's have become since I was a kid.

Personally, Tam and I still use a tent. Old school for us, but then we camp, which is different completely.

[texxn5]

Yeah, know what you mean about the Admiral....my first was 18 years, the 2nd was about 18, then got a 40 year old and that went for 5 years, now it's five months with the absolute best one I've had...she's my age again.....dang youngun's will kill ya....lol...gotta take care of her....

[DSiemens]

Glad to see you getting her started.....the Morgan that is!

 

Tough break there only being with your Admiral for 5 months.  Mine's been around her for 40 odd years so all I ever need do is give her 100% of my attention for more than 1 day and she begins to ask 'aren't you going out or have a new project to start'   

 

I'm going to have to try that.  

[texxn5]

Thanks Daniel, my new command is awesome.....and she loves ship models....she's also an artist so that helps too.  I'm getting the itch and about ready to get started on this project.  I'm going to be taking an extended tour of the US in my RV, but I'm taking the Morgan and some tools with me hoping to at least get to planking while I'm on the road. 

[texxn5]

Hi Keith, sorry for the delay in the answer, however, my RV is only a 22' travel trailer.....but gonna make room to work on the ship as we go. This could be a 6 month venture, so I gotta have my girl with me....

[texxn5]

gjdale, mine hasn't been saying that yet, however, hopefully I'll have time to do some shipyard work......

[texxn5]

yeah Keith I wish I still had my 5th wheel...lots more room...would give me pleanty of work room....I'm now in a 22' travel trailer.

[lambsbk]

Have a safe trip John. I'll continue to follow your build as you move forward.

[texxn5]

Thanks, I'll be doing the same with your build.  I love seeing the variations of how people build the Conny. 

[mtaylor]

John,

We used to have an RV.  I did a lot of work on her in the motorhome.  The secret is to stay in the RV and read a book or watch TV.  At some point after a day or so, you'll get "why don't you go work on your model outside"...  I also found that sitting outside working on it, even bits and pieces was a conversation starter with the folks in the campground. 

[texxn5]

Thanks Lawrence, I plan to do that.  I'm sure it'll come in handy along the way.
John

[texxn5]

Hi Mark, that is exactly what I plan to do. I would imagine, people would get interested seeing someone planking a wood ship model. Especially outside in the fresh air. It's a good lifestyle....

John

[texxn5]

Well, something happened and I lost what I just put here as a post, so I'll start over again.....the time has come and I couldn't stand it any more, so I at least got started good today. I sat outside, watched the boats and the bods on the lake formed the fillers, shaped the bulkheads, glued all of that to the keel. She's started....pictures to show the progress. My goal is to be prepared to plank her while I'm on the road, so that means I need to be at the planking stage before I leave in the next few weeks. But, Tuesday, back to reality, and things to do besides work in the shipyard. In the pictures, the plankshear is just laying on the ship for reference, it is not shaped or glued, I just wanted to see what's next. Have a wonderful Memorial Day, and for the vets on this site....Thank You for Serving!.....

John

USN 1969-75, USS John F Kennedy, CVA 67, EM2

[texxn5]

Here's a couple of more.  Hope these help someone starting, as quite a bit of this I found confusing, and took me a while to figure out.  Hopefully I got it right.

[lambsbk]

NIce start John. Have a great memorial day.

[gjdale]

Niec to see you started there John. Looking good.

[augie]

You're off to a good start John.  Keep the photos coming.

 

Enjoy the remainder of the Holiday weekend.

[Sjors]

And there comes number 2…..

Is that a virus that almost everyone has more builds at the same time?

Very nice start John!

Enjoy the holiday ( we don't have that here…)

 

[texxn5]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the encouragement.  I couldn't stand it, I just had to do something to get it started.

[texxn5]

Thank you Sjors, yes, it must be a virus....it's one of those you can't ever seem to shake...it just keeps hanging on. We will enjoy our holiday today, we pick up our new RV trailer today, so then the preparations begin for our travels. Please bend an elbow to the American Vets today.....

John

[JPett]

Ahoy Tex

 

Nice start

 

If it helps, I used the planking practicum here on MSW and spent the time to mark off all the plank widths on my hull. Well shortly after I didn't and then found out how hard it was to plank without them. I used 1/32nd by 3/32nd basswood strips to confirm my fairing and mark the belts. I put them just below where they needed to be and then use them as a guide for my pencil. I also found a 4H pencil worked best. Using wood was more accurate then the string mentioned in one of the practicums, at least for me.

 

Have Fun

 

 

PS: Thank you for your service (place saluting emoticon here)

Edited May 28, 2013 by JPett

[texxn5]

Hi JP, thanks for the input.  I have downloaded the practicum, but haven't studied it yet.  Did you mark your lines by using the "hull line" tool that holds the pencil at a certain height, then level the ship before marking?  Looks like you got a lot of lines out of whatever marking system you used.  Again, I'm new to this and this will be the first one I do.  I have not seen how anyone marks the lines to get them parallel and space properly.  Thanks, John

[JPett]

Ahoy Tex 

 

I did not use the water line to establish the run of the planks. It is a reference line but not the one for the run of planks. I am sure you could take measurements from it to get the proper height for your first plank. I just used the deck.

 

Following some recent posts in my log I will "set" the wales on my next build. I plan to make them their own belt. Then use those lines to determine the run of the rest of the planks.

 

No: I marked the hull using little strips of paper. This will make sense when you read the practicum. I also used the batten method to find and mark the belts (in the MS kit instructions), not the thread recommended in one of the practicums. It is important to spend the time to mark every plank width on every bulkhead. It is a long and somewhat boring task but shows you every problem before you lay a plank. It is much easier to erase a pencil line then to replace a strake or an entire belt of planks. That is what this work will do for you.

[texxn5]

Thanks Jpett, I'm sure I'll understand more as I go. I appreciate the info and really like the way you're planking. I know I'll be asking all kinds of questions once I get to that point. It will probably be a while as I'm getting ready to get on the road for a few months. I'll read the practicum in the next few days, and will work on this before I leaave and then try to plank while I'm in some RV parks hopefully. I've really been studying your log, thanks for the pictures and the advice.

John

[JPett]

Ahoy Tex

 

NP

 

Just follow the MS instructions and use the practicum here. Take your time, treat each plank as its own little project and don't rush it. Thats all I did.  

 

Have fun on your adventure

[texxn5]

OK, well, got some progress yesterday and today so far.  Got the Waterway, Plankshear, stanchions, Knightsheads, Timberplanks, Mainrail, lograil and topgallant rail attached to the port side.   Took some pictures for anyone that might want to build this kit, as some of the parts can be confusing as to how they come together.