Hermione by Zarkon - Artesania Latina - 1/89

[Zarkon]

Hello all,

 

Since my Victory is on hold, I decided to start something smaller and easier to fit in my busy schedule and my skill level better.

 

I don't have much time to work on this model, (between 0 - 1 hour a day if I am lucky), so I thought the Hermione would be much better choice.

 

First off, here is how the kit arrived

Its funny how it has a big red sticker on it, and it was crushed! UH OH!

 

 

As you can see, I was a little hesitant to open it. I closed my eyes and opened the box and luckily no pieces were damaged!  That was a relief!

 

 

I was trying to find the instructions to no avail.  Then I realized that they were all in pdf and jpg format on the included cd!  That isnt too bad cause at least I can zoom into the photos if I need a close up.  I do like how there are MANY photos to help me understand what the instructions are trying to say.  I noticed that the pictures help more than the English text does! I guess a picture is worth more than a paragraph of words!

 

Next comes the plans.  It included 1 sheet of plans which just had different views of the conpleted model.  I was a little disappointed that it didn't come with plans that showed any cross sections of anything. Bummer.

 

Pretty much all the parts are basswood and ply.  The few pieces that were not basswood were the deck planks.  I think the reason they didnt include much other wood was to: 1) save money on making the kit 2) pretty much all parts will be painted ,except the deck planking, so why include high quality wood if it will just be painted later?

 

The laser cut parts are very detailed with very little burn marks.  I was impressed with the amount of detail they could put into those small laser cut pieces. Here are a few of them 

 

The only pieces I have some gripe with are the basswood strips.  Most of them do not have good edges like so

I would say a good 30% of the strips have bad edges on all sides.  I think this will make planking a little more challenging, but I will have to wait and see.

 

I will be posting later tonight on my progress but wanted to describe the kit first.  I'm already farther on this model than my Victory!

 

So far, this is turning out to be a much better choice!

 

Jeff

[Dilbert55]

Good luck with the digital instructions and parts list. There are also some instructions that are poorly sequenced, in my opinion.

 

[Zarkon]

Thank you Dilbert55!

 

I totally agree. I have already done a few things out of sequence to the instructions.   Like, for example, I glued on the stem to the keel before I did anything else. The instructions say to do that on step 12 after the hull has been fully planked. But it seemed to me it would be much easier to do it early in the build. 

 

Jeff 

[Zarkon]

First off, I have glued the keel together since it came in 2 pieces.

 

The oveall false keel is straight, exept the tops between the frames are bent.  I was able to get around that though.

 

This is where I decided to do the instructions out of order.  I glued on the stem at this point instead way later at step 12.

 

 

I then planked the second deck and glued it onto the ship. 

 

The first hull plank!  The red thing in the back is my electric kettle which the steam really helps to bend the wood easily.

 

next, I marked out and cut the gunports. 

 

I then glued on the stern transom and the hull planks underneath.  I had an issue glueing the stern transom on.  I thought I had bent it enough, so I glued and clamped it and left for work. When I came back home, it looked like this.

So I removed the glue and put that non glued side under the steam for a minute.  I then re glued that side and this is the outcome.

 

MUCH BETTER! It made me feel a lot better after I was able to fix it.

 

Finally, I have skipped yet another step and glued on the rest of the stern.

I am now suppose to plank the rest of the hull.  I am reading through the hull planking guides here, and they are very useful! I will be referencing to them a lot during this process.   I am not that happy with how the instructions want me to plank the hull.  Adding a lot of plank strips that end in a point.  I want to get better at planking,  so I will be following the guides and go slow so I can see my mistakes and learn from them.

 

 

Jeff

Edited May 4, 2018 by Zarkon

[Jim Rogers]

Looking good,

[Zarkon]

Thank you for your comment Jim!

 

After reading over 3 planking  guides here on the forums, I realized I have a lot to learn and experiment with to get the planking correct.  Here is a small update to my planking

 

That bottom plank took me 30 minutes to get into the correct shape.  This row of planks will be the last of the upper planking.  So I will be using the guides to help me plank the hull below the wales.

 

Jeff

[Zarkon]

Just a small update.

 

I have completed one side of planking that I will consider the top hull planking.  The bottom two rows are smaller height wise to correct 2 things:

1) the hull planks at the bow on both sides of the ship do not match up (pic below)

2) following the planking instructions, I felt that the top rows of planks had too much of an upward bend towards the stern and needed to be slightly corrected for the bottom planking.

 

If you look closely, the planks do not match up correctly until the last row.

 

 

 

I cheated a little with the last row plank at the stern.   This piece was a little wider than the other planks but fit well.  This was to help correct the too much of an upward curve from the previous planks.

 

I have started the other side. Once that is done,  I will follow thw guides at this site to complete the bottom hull planking. 

 

Thanks!

 

Jeff

[Dilbert55]

Suggest you provision space for the decorative metal parts that mount on either side of the lower transom. Better than having to cut into you finished hull much later on.

[Zarkon]

 

8 hours ago, Dilbert55 said:

Suggest you provision space for the decorative metal parts that mount on either side of the lower transom.

Thank you for pointing this out!  I would not have fitted that decorative metal piece at this time. 

 

I broke out those metal parts and test fitted them to the sides of the ship:

According to the instructions,  they should fit here.  If this is wrong, please tell me!!! Haha!  Currently, both metal pieces fit flush against the hull.

 

I also made my first half-stealer!

 

 

I realized that i didnt give the bottom plank enough height. Boo. But, this is my first attempt and the fit of the stealer to the bottom plank is quite snug.  So I am happy about that part.  This section will be smoothed out with wood filler anyway and painted so you won't be able to tell (I hope!).

 

 

I am now reading the three planking guides on the site:

 

Lining Off your hull for planking

 

Planking Primer

 

Plankingprojectbeginners

 

Lastly,  I have to say,  the supplied basswood for the hull planks are not of very good quality.   All the pieces have terrible edges that etch into the plank and makie it impossible to get a good fit.

This piece I took out at random, has scores in it that,  if sanded smooth, would make the plank way too thin.  I will have to fill them in with wood filler.  Also,  with this example,  both the top and bottom edges have many scratches as I hope you can see. With these scratches,  there will  gaps between planks that I will have to fill with wood filler too.  Also, this is the good side of the plank! The other side of this plank has worse edges. Lastly,  there is only one layer of planks.   I know that this kit wants me to paint the entire hull and to use wood filler to smooth out everything, but its taking me a LONG time just to prep the plank to place on the hull.

 

I want to practice making the hull correctly by following the guides and not have any planks end in a point, but the supplied wood is just making more work for me. 

 

Jeff

 

 

 

[Dilbert55]

This is one of the poor instructions and/or poorly designed parts. If these metal bits were properly designed to fit flush with the hull on the forward edge, that edge would be sharp on the metal part, but it isn't, at least mine were not and it looks like yours are the same. You need to cut the planks to end at the fwd edge of the parts so they can fit flush with the hull. eg: these metal bit fit into the hull not on top of it. I only found this out very late in the build and had to cut into my finished hull. Needless to say I could not achieve a perfect fit at this point. 

[Zarkon]

 

I see what you mean now.   Thank you for your insight! I will make the corrections now so it won't be a headache later. 

 

Jeff 

[Zarkon]

Hi all!

 

Just a small update of my hull planking.  Its taking a while because of life stuff,  but its coming along.   Im realizing what I should have done on the upper planking which would have helped curve the lower planking more correctly.   Also,  I am using Chuck's technique of putting clear tape over the plank of the previous row and using a pencile to draw the correct line to then transfer to the next plank.   I'm slowly getting better at it. I can already tell that my next hull planking will be much better than this. 

 

The pic above shows the curving of the planks.  This was really tough to get the right curve but very rewarding. 

 

 

Thanks!!

Jeff

 

[Zarkon]

Thanks everyone for the likes!

 

I finally finished my first section of planking!  I have learned quite a bit doing this section, so the next sections of planks should turn out even better.

 

I have now started to plank the section closest to the keel.   After reading a lot of guides, I realized that the garbord plank needs to be wider than the rest because of the curvature it needs to be at the stern of the ship.  Since the kit didn't come with any wider planks, I had to go to the local hobby shop and get some basswood sheets.  I measured the width I needed and was able to cut it straight and correct with nothing more than a straight edge and a knife!

That felt good to know I was able to make a straight plank by hand!  So I cut 2 out and started to plank the second section.

 

I have not been following the kit instructions about planking.  As of right now,  doing this planking makes me want to plank my HMS Victory model right afterwards just for the experience! Haha!

 

Thanks!

 

Jeff

[Dilbert55]

Have you decided to paint the hull, entirely as the kit calls for or partially?

[Zarkon]

Dilbert,

 

 

Yes. I have decided to paint the hull and the model like the kit says to for a few reasons:

 

1 ) The quality of the basswood provided isnt high enough to display.   A.L did not provide a second hull planking and assumes the builder will paint it.  I think thats why they didnt include a nice hull finishing planking. (Plus lower cost for them)

 

2) Since this is my first forray into trying to plank the right way with no planks ending in a point, etc, I know I will have mistakes and will learn from it. So being able to fill with filler and paint will go a long way in hiding those mistakes.

 

3) I like the paint scheme and I want to try my hand at painting anyway. 

 

Reasons 1 and 2 are the main ones of why I will paint it.  If I wasn't going to paint, I would HIGHLY recommend either replacing the supplied basswod strips with higher quality wood (the type would be up to you) or buy a thin second planking wood strips  and make sure to sand the frames/keel appropriately so to make room for the second planks.

 

On that note, they want you to paint the inside hull planking where the guns will be.  I have quite a bit of glue on the inside of the planks and its not even:

 

So, I am going to cover both inside planks with a thin,  0.5mm planks, then sand and paint it to make it more even.

 

Jeff 

[Zarkon]

Hey all,

 

Here is an update.  I am just continuing to plank the hull and I am on a good pace.  I am glad that I will be using wood filler and painting it because it sure will need the. Filler after I'm done planking!!

 

I have started to plank from the keel up and Its going pretty well.  Im just a little worried about if the curves are correct when the last set of planks are laid. So after this section, I will remeasure the plank widths.

 

 

Thanks for reading and the likes and comments!!

 

Jeff

[MESSIS]

well done.... it seems your changing the tempo!

Christos

[Zarkon]

5 hours ago, MESSIS said:

well done.... it seems your changing the tempo!

Christos

Thank you for the like and comment!

Yes!  I have been trying to make it a point to plank at lease one piece per day. Each row requires 2 pieces per side.  Plus, Ive gotten a little quicker bending and beveling the strips.

 

Jeff

[Zarkon]

Hey all, I do have a question.  I took another shot at creating the stem on my hms victory.  This is more of a general thing than model specific.

 

All I have are small hand tools and a scroll saw.  I'm trying to make the last piece but not sure the best way to take off the material.

 

I have quite a bit to take off for this piece to fit.  But I don't want to hand saw/sand all that wood away.  (I also need to fill in the small cracks since I hand made all the pieces).

 

What would be good way to remove a lot of material from this last piece? Or would investing in a sanding power tool be the best option to build these pieces better?

 

Thanks for any advice!!

 

Jeff 

[Charter33]

Hi Jeff,

 

Have you thought of investing in a drum sander kit? I have found them invaluable - and they are relatively inexpensive. They come in a variety of sizes and consist of a cylindrical piece of rubber mounted on a threaded shaft. When a nut is tightened the rubber is compressed and expands, gripping an abrasive tube. My set of five, ranging from 13mm diameter to 

50mm dia., in a plastic case, cost less than £10.

They fit in a small electric drill although I find they are best used in pillar drill or a drill mounted in a vertical stand.

 

Graham

 

 

[MESSIS]

Jeff I think Graham is right. And anyway a rotating power tool its essential for a build... I found out how essential that really is, only after my second build😅. 

There is s varaity in the market and the prices are inexpensive.

 

Christos

Edited July 2, 2018 by MESSIS

[Zarkon]

Graham and Christos,

 

Thank you very much for your replies!  I will look at some drum sander kits and other rotating sanding tools.  As both of you say,  this too is very important; so I will be buying one soon and will let you know how it turns out!  Its actually fun, looking at tools haha!! Its been hard, hand sanding those edges to the stem, so this should help IMMENSELY!!!

 

Thanks again!!

 

Jeff

[Zarkon]

I was able to get a small sanding attachment for my dermal tool.  It worked very well!

Now after the glue dries,  I will need to sand it and fill in the cracks with some sawdust.

 

Thanks again for the advice!! It was very helpful!

 

Onto my build,  I am still planking away and as soon as I have more completed,  I will give another update. 

 

Thanks!!

 

Jeff

 

[MESSIS]

well done Jeff.

 

just about the sawdust. There are model wood fillers and putys. much handyier than sawdust.

 

I am using this one, but there are a lot of such fillers and their colout can be easily altered using water-based dyes. It can be thinned with water and brushed on to fill wood grain. 
 

1022 White Wood Filler

White wood filler, very light, quick drying and sands easily, specially developed by Mantua. This filler is ideal for all wooden ships
100cc
Part No: 1022

 

Price: £4.90 (Including VAT at 20%)

 

Edited July 5, 2018 by MESSIS

[Zarkon]

Thank you Messis! I will have to pick up some and try it out!

 

For this build, I need some help.  I sanded too much off a plank from the stern plank strip as shown below:

I am trying to plank the next row but there is no way to make the curve.  Any suggestions?  Or will I have to take it off and make the plank again?

 

Thanks!

Jeff

[Dilbert55]

Install the new row without forcing anything, leave whatever gap there is, then fill it with a small piece. As you are going to paint the hull it shouldn't matter or be noticable. 

[MESSIS]

Thats it! Dilbert55 its right.

Christos

 

ps. Do not sand again before ending the whole planking of the hull.

[Zarkon]

7 hours ago, Dilbert55 said:

Install the new row without forcing anything, leave whatever gap there is, then fill it with a small piece

Thank you Dilbert! I will do just that! What happened was that I accidentally sanded the wrond edge of that plank so it was a lot thinner than it should be.  I learned my lesson there.

4 hours ago, MESSIS said:

Do not sand again before ending the whole planking of the hull.

Christos,

 

Thank you for the advice. Since starting the planking at the keel, I have stopped sanding, and I won't sand anymore until the hull is fully planked.  Haha I learned my lesson there too!

 

Thanks you guys for all your help!

 

Jeff

[Zarkon]

I have been following the guides on this site on how to plank a hull, and I have to say, they are very good guides, but I am not happy at all with MY skills at planking:

 

 

I am getting fruatrated because I also do not have enough planks to finish it.  I feel I need more practice with it.  I haven't really broken any planks bending them.   It feels like AL just gave me enough to plank the way they want you to.

 

I know it will be painted, but I would know how badly planked it was. SO I need some advice.

 

I see where my errors are, but would require ripping up most, if not all the planks.

 

Should I just "get on with it" and get more wood and finish it,

Or

Should I rip it up, order more wood, and pay more attention and do it again (learning more in the process)

 

Thanks!

Jeff

[Dilbert55]

Try not to be too hard on yourself. This type of modeling requires lots of experience to get the kind of results we can be 100% content with. Even the best tutorials and instructions can't replace actually building a ship. Think if you tried stripping the planking totally off it could cause bigger problems than just plowing ahead. Believe there are places where you can order more planks if needed. Expect somebody with better knowledge of where to do this will give you some guidance.