Medway Longboat - 1742 - FINISHED - 1:24 Scale - by Ryland Craze

[Ryland Craze]

Thanks Rusty.  I know that you use Chuck's painting techniques in your builds.  Your paint jobs always look nice.  I took many pictures of your Medway Longboat at the Northeast Joint Clubs Conference and Show last year and have referred to them many times in my build.  Stay safe up in your area of New York.

[glbarlow]

I’m going to remember this when I start painting Cheerful. I’ve always painted multiple coats, but like 3-4. I’d love to see your boat live. I bet you can feel the depth. Really nice job. 
 

I can paint a straight line...wait without tape...😱😳

[Ryland Craze]

Thanks Glenn.  I remember when you were building your Armed Virginia Sloop on another forum many years ago.  You will not have any problem painting with highly thinned paint.  Try practicing on a piece of scrap wood and you will find the color starts to look good around the eighth coat.

[JeffT]

34 minutes ago, Ryland Craze said:

Thanks Glenn.  I remember when you were building your Armed Virginia Sloop on another forum many years ago.  You will not have any problem painting with highly thinned paint.  Try practicing on a piece of scrap wood and you will find the color starts to look good around the eighth coat.

 

 

How much do you thin? I've heard 7 parts paint to one part thinner.

[glbarlow]

1 hour ago, Ryland Craze said:

Armed Virginia Sloop on another forum

Good ole Bob Hunt. Cantankerous dude, but the AVS is where I learned to model. That really was a long time ago. 

[Suzdal]

Newbie question:

 

I have a bunch of water based acrylic paints, Prince Auguste & Liquitex (Liquitex is US manufactured). What does one use as a thinner, water ?

 

Richard

[DelF]

Hi Ryland

 

I've just found your log and I'm seriously impressed! You were kind enough to comment on my recently completed English Pinnace, also by Chuck, but having seen your workmanship I know I've still got a way to go. I was particularly impressed with your carpentry - beautifully clean and precise. I also like the painting technique you learned from Chuck. I don't usually pay much attention to painting as I prefer the look of natural wood, and as a consequence when I do use paint I usually just slap on a couple of coats with mixed results. I will certainly try the many-coat method in future if it leads to the finish you have achieved.

 

Looking beyond my current project (HMS Speedy by Vanguard Models) I'd been edging towards the Queen Anne's Barge for my next build having seen Meddo's excellent log but now I'm seriously tempted by the Medway Longboat. Maybe I'll have to get both? 

 

Derek

[John Cheevers]

Your long boat model is first rate. Super build!  Can't wait to see it at a meeting.

[Ryland Craze]

22 hours ago, JToma said:

How much do you thin? I've heard 7 parts paint to one part thinner.

Jeff, it depends on the type of paint you are using.  The Grumbacher artist acrylic paint that I use on my Longboat comes in a tube.  The paint is thick like tooth paste.  I have never measured the amount of distilled water that I use to thin it, but I would guess that it is around 70% water and 30% paint.  I want it thin like water color.  If the paint starts to thicken up during a painting session, I will add more water.  I have used some other paints like Badger and Vallejo that are pre-thinned for airbrushes and add little or no water.  I always test the paint on scrap wood before I apply it to my model.

21 hours ago, glbarlow said:

The AVS is where I learned to model. That really was a long time ago. 

Glenn, I still have my AVS.  All that is left to complete is the masting and rigging.  Maybe some day.

17 hours ago, Suzdal said:

Newbie question: What does one use as a thinner, water ?

Richard, I use distilled water and have not experienced any problems.  You should test the thinning of your paint before you apply it to your model.  I know that some brands of acrylic paint have their own thinning agents.  We are glad to have you on board here at Model Ship World.

16 hours ago, DelF said:

Looking beyond my current project (HMS Speedy by Vanguard Models) I'd been edging towards the Queen Anne's Barge for my next build having seen Meddo's excellent log but now I'm seriously tempted by the Medway Longboat. Maybe I'll have to get both?

Derek, Thank you for your kind remarks.  I really liked the modifications that you did on your Pinnace.  It turned out to be a beautiful model and I too am impressed with your level of craftsmanship.  Your HMS Speedy is coming along nicely and it too will be a beautiful model.  You will not have a problem building the Queen Anne's Barge or the Medway Longboat.  Both of these models by Syren Ship Model Company are uniquely different.  I have seen Chuck’s QAB in person and it is a terrific model.  The boxwood carvings look really nice on the cherry wood.  Having planked the Pinnace and the Speedy, you will find the Longboat a pleasure to build as the Alaskan yellow cedar planks are pre-spiled.  Both of these kits are in 1:24 scale and will fit nicely with your Pinnace.

15 hours ago, John Cheevers said:

Your long boat model is first rate. Super build!  Can't wait to see it at a meeting.

Thanks John.  I will be glad when we can meet in person, although I thought last Saturday's HRSMS meeting on Zoom went very well.

[Suzdal]

8 hours ago, Ryland Craze said:

 

Richard, I use distilled water and have not experienced any problems.  You should test the thinning of your paint before you apply it to your model.  I know that some brands of acrylic paint have their own thinning agents.  We are glad to have you on board here at Model Ship World.

 

 

Derek, Thank you for your kind remarks.  I really liked the modifications that you did on your Pinnace.  It turned out to be a beautiful model and I too am impressed with your level of craftsmanship.  Your HMS Speedy is coming along nicely and it too will be a beautiful model.  You will not have a problem building the Queen Anne's Barge or the Medway Longboat.  Both of these models by Syren Ship Model Company are uniquely different.  I have seen Chuck’s QAB in person and it is a terrific model.  The boxwood carvings look really nice on the cherry wood.  Having planked the Pinnace and the Speedy, you will find the Longboat a pleasure to build as the Alaskan yellow cedar planks are pre-spiled.  Both of these kits are in 1:24 scale and will fit nicely with your Pinnace.

 

 

 

Thanks John.  I will be glad when we can meet in person, although I thought last Saturday's HRSMS meeting on Zoom went very well.

 

[Suzdal]

8 hours ago, Ryland Craze said:

 

Richard, I use distilled water and have not experienced any problems.  You should test the thinning of your paint before you apply it to your model.  I know that some brands of acrylic paint have their own thinning agents.  We are glad to have you on board here at Model Ship World.

 

 

 

 

[Suzdal]

Just now, Suzdal said:

Ryland

Thank you for your reply in using distilled water, I'll test it. Another person also agrees with you. Wasn't sure that would be  possible. Thank you also for your welcome, I'm just learning by building Angosti's victory cross section (which demands a whole bunch of skills except rigging and planking) and by eavesdropping on the blogs.  After that I'll tackle something more difficult with planking. Two things worry me planking and tapering the various masts & yards.

 

One of the things I've picked up here is "patience" and also to use the Vallorbe flat files where only the two flat surfaces have teeth.

 

Richard

[Justin P.]

On 4/20/2020 at 5:29 PM, Ryland Craze said:

Many years ago I had the opportunity to see Chuck do a demonstration on his painting techniques. 

Are we saying here that Chuck and Ryland aren't using any tape or stencil at all?   Amazing.   Im approaching a step in my Armed Longboat build which has a similar red inboard painted detail as is used in many of Chucks designs and Im still not sure how to get that painted cleanly without taping it off.  Which, when one considers the tight turns of running over all the frames, sounds like a nightmare!

Edited April 30, 2020 by Justin P.

[Ryland Craze]

22 hours ago, Justin P. said:

Are we saying here that Chuck and Ryland aren't using any tape or stencil at all?   Amazing.   Im approaching a step in my Armed Longboat build which has a similar red inboard painted detail as is used in many of Chucks designs and Im still not sure how to get that painted cleanly without taping it off.  Which, when one considers the tight turns of running over all the frames, sounds like a nightmare!

Justin, I use tape most of the time when I paint my models.  I use tape to get a straight edge such as the red top of the rudder and also use tape to cover up the natural wood in case I should accidentally drop or splatter some paint.  My Longboat was pretty well taped up for over two months during the painting process.  I mainly use blue painters tape for general cover up and use Tamiya Fine Line or 3M Fine Line tape to get a sharp edge.  A good cover up of tape, paper or cloth is cheap insurance when painting, as I have learned this the hard way.

 

I remember taping up my 1/48th Longboat and it was a pain with all of the tight turns of the exposed bulwarks.  The design of the Medway Longboat eliminated this as there is an inboard sheer strake attached to the inboard edge of the caprail.  All I had to do was tape below this strake to keep paint from hitting the natural wood bulwarks.

 

When I saw Chuck demonstrate his painting technique, he had squares drawn on a sheet of wood.  There was never a model that he demonstrated his painting technique on, but I would not doubt that he uses very little, if any, tape in his painting of his ship models.  He is that good.

[captain_hook]

Very nice and clean build! I‘ve learned that if you use tape, it may be helpful to paint the edge of the tape with a little thinned clear vanish first to secure that no colour will accidentally soak under the tape and you get very clean edges in the end, especially on parts with endgrain.

[Ryland Craze]

Thanks for your comment, Captain and also for the tip on getting clean painted edges.  I enjoyed your AVS build log and it is one of the best constructed AVS models that I have seen.

[Ryland Craze]

I have been working on my Medway Longboat at a snails pace and thought that I would post my progress to date.  I shaped the laser cut knees and decided to paint these off of the model.  I used some double sided tape and placed them on a scrap piece of wood for painting.  Later, I will glue them to the thwarts and touch up the paint.

The next item was the mast thwart ironwork.  I used the supplied brass to construct this.  I used Blacken It to blacken the brass.  It worked really well, but when I installed it on the thwart, I somehow chipped a portion of the blackened part.  Since it was glued to the thwart, I could not remove it.  I tried to re-blacken it on the thwart, but had no success.  I then painted it with some Floquil Grimy Black paint.

 

The next step was to turn the thole pins using my dremel and install them on the cap rails.  I turned six more than what I needed and picked out the best of the lot to install on the model.  After turning them. I ran them thru my Byrnes draw plate to make sure they were all the same size.  I made a jig from some scrap wood to drill the holes for the thole pins so that I would have consistent  spacing between the pins and also from the edge of the cap rail.  You can see the lip that I put on the jig in the picture below.  I took the locations for the thole pins from the plans and marked the location using a thin strip of masking tape.  I sighted the leading edge of the masking tape through the hole and drilled the first hole. I placed a thole pin in the hole on the jig into the cap rail and this held the jig while I drilled the second hole.  I glued the thole pins in pairs and used my electronic calipers to insure that I had a consistent 3/16" height.

Here is a picture of the model with the thole pins installed.

The last thing I did was to make the grapnels.  This was a fun little project and they turned out a lot better than what the fuzzy picture shows.  My camera would not focus properly on the black grapnel on a white background.

I just have to make the windlass handles and turn the four belaying pins and I will be finished with Chapter 4 of the instructions.  Then it is on to the masting and rigging portion of the build.

[MEDDO]

14 minutes ago, Ryland Craze said:

I made a jig from some scrap wood to drill the holes for the thole pins so that I would have consistent  spacing between the pins and also from the edge of the cap rail. 

Great idea it looks much better than free handing them and "eyeballing" it

[BobG]

She's looking good, Ryland! You did an exceptionally good job on the oar thole pins and it shows. They are much more precise than mine.

[JpR62]

Superb Job, Ryland ! I really like the jig to drill the holes for the thole pins. The distance between them is thus perfectly regular. Brilliant idea !

[Ryland Craze]

Thanks everyone for your comments.  It is hard to believe that it has been two months since my last update.  Time seems to fly by quicker the older you get.

 

I have been working on the mast, boom, gaff and bowsprite following the instructions on how to complete these.  These all started out as square stock.  They were rounded using the 7-10-7 method with the templates supplied in the instructions.  I first drew lines on the wood stock using the templates.  I then drilled holes using a dremel drill press for the simulated sheaves in the locations per the plans.

 

I then took my miniature block plane and knocked off the edges to create an octagon shape.  Using my sanding stick, I knocked off the other edges to create a rough round shape.  I then placed the rounded wood in my drill and shaped the now dowel to the proper dimensions using various sanding sticks.  For the simulated sheaves, I used a scalpel blade to connect the two holes of each sheave and then used a small round file to shape the simulated sheave.

 

I am very glad to get this portion of the build behind me.  They turned out a lot better than what I expected and I am very happy with the results.  With this behind me, I can now move forward to completing the mast and installing it.  I am looking forward to the next stage of the build.

[BobG]

10 minutes ago, Ryland Craze said:

These all started out as square stock.  They were rounded using the 7-10-7 method with the templates supplied in the instructions.  I first drew lines on the wood stock using the templates.  I then drilled holes using a dremel drill press for the simulated sheaves in the locations per the plans.

Nice idea to drill the holes for the sheaves while the stock was still square. I had a bit of a problem getting the holes exactly centered on both sides after I had sanded them to their final, rounded shapes.

[whitejamest]

Wow this looks really fantastic! 

[MEDDO]

Those look great Ryland

[Rustyj]

Well done Ryland!

[glbarlow]

Excellent details, very fine work!  I need to practice the 7-10-7 method before I commit the yellow cedar mast material. Another thing I’ve never done. Your mast and spars look great. 

[gjdale]

Very nicely done Ryland. 

[Ryland Craze]

Thanks everyone for your replies and for the "Likes".  Progress continues at a snails pace on my Longboat.  I have completed all of the shaping of the mast, boom, gaff and bowsprit and finished painting them and applying WOP on the wood surfaces.  I stepped the mast (temporarily) and I am ready to start the rigging. Here are some pictures of the status of the model that I shared with my Club members on Zoom this past Saturday:

 

 

[Chuck]

Nicely done Ryland.  

[fnkershner]

Ryland - I want to thank you for your log. Your log has the detail that I need for my model. I have been using it extensively for my build. Can you tell me where you found the thumb plane? I have not yet purchased the rigging kit. but I plan to once Chuck has them in stock.