Cannon Jolle 1801 by ccoyle - FINISHED - Master Korabel - 1/72 scale - Swedish gunboat

[ccoyle]

Hello, all! Welcome to my to-be-much-abbreviated build log for the Master Korabel "cannon jolle" (gunboat) kit. I say "abbreviated" because Jim Rogers already did a fine build log for this kit, which you can see here. You can also read my initial review of the kit in the reviews section of the forum.

 

Part of my reason for choosing this kit is to show members that yes, I do actually build ship models on occasion! Here's a couple of shots of the very early stages of construction, only a few hours' worth really. So far I have not had any issues apart from being a little confused by the instructions once or twice. This is only to be expected in instructions that are translated from Russian, so no big deal. Having patience and thinking thoroughly through the process has spared me any missteps to this point. As you can see, the hull substructure has A LOT of pieces. It all fits together very nicely but snugly and locks up tightly once glued. The finished model will really be quite small, as the hull is only about as long as my hand.

 

That's all for now!

 

[Nirvana]

Chris,

Being a Swede living in the US I will certainly pull up a comfy chair, getting me hot cup of java and enjoy this build.

Didn't know about this kit.

Besides a great start of a small kit.

 

Sorry to bug you but the link to Jim Rogers build log is taking me to create a new post.

Edited December 2, 2018 by Nirvana

[ccoyle]

2 hours ago, Nirvana said:

 

Sorry to bug you but the link to Jim Rogers build log is taking me to create a new post.

 

 

Drat! Fixed it.

[Nirvana]

Chris, maybe some interesting info

 

Danish boat design

As a result of the British confiscation and destruction of large parts of the Danish-Norwegian fleet during the assault on Copenhagen, the Dano-Norwegian government decided to build gunboats in large numbers to compensate the loss. The gunboats were originally designed by a Swede, Fredrik Henrik af Chapman, and the strategic advantage of gunboats lay in the fact that they could be produced rapidly and inexpensively throughout the kingdom. The tactical advantages were that they were highly manoeuvrable, especially in still and shallow waters and presented small targets. On the other hand, the boats were vulnerable and likely to sink from a single hit. They therefore could not be used in rough seas, and they were less effective against large warships. Still, the Danish-Norwegian government produced more than 200 gunboats in two models: the shallop gunboat which had a crew of 76 men, with an 18- or 24-pounder cannon in the bow and another in the stern, and the smaller barge type that had a total crew of 24 men, armed with a single 24-pounder.

The Danish Commander (and later Admiral) Steen Andersen Bille (1751–1833) is credited with being the driving force behind the post-1807 Dano-Norwegian strategy of gunboat warfare. We owe Junior Lieutenant Garde, himself a commander of one of the larger type of gunboats, for a description of each of the four classes of gunboat.

Kanonjollen: These were the smaller type of gunboat. Each was armed with one 24-pound cannon and two 4-pound howitzers, and had wartime establishment of 41 men.

And here is a plan  from the Swedish Maritime Museum with a drawing of the KanonJolle

 

[Nirvana]

And a picture

[ccoyle]

That's the craft that the Master Korabel kit is based on.

[ccoyle]

A couple more hours of work in the books. This substructure is built like a flippin' tank (are you listening, Corel?). Not only that, but a lot of thought went into the design -- some of the parts that have definite left/right or front/back sides are designed so that they can only fit into the assembly in the direction they are supposed to go.

 

I used Birchwood Casey bluing to blacken the metal parts.

 

I'm now ready to start the final fairing of the hull prior to planking.

[Nirvana]

Wow, that is fast work! Very nice Chris!

[ccoyle]

Hull faired. Yes, the work goes quickly because it is such a small model. None of that knocking together a 1st rate POF hull over a course of years, no siree!

 

[ccoyle]

I found this interesting review of this kit online:

 

Quote

"Building this model was one of the most frustrating experience in my shipbuilding career (built about 30 kits so far in the last 7 years). The pieces are tiny and fit together precisely to the nearest mm which leaves no room to play at all, expect the builkheads to break, and half of the wood is 'burned' by the laser which means alot of tiny sanding. Some parts better to scratch build. It's kind of like building a plastic kits and it reminded me of the 'young modeler' models from South Korea. ALL the fittings are photo-etched. The pictures are very detailed however. Again, a mistake on my part by not looking at the measurements of this kit when I saw the sale price last month 🙂 . Avoid if you are an experienced wood modeler."

 

The review shows how different a perspective two people can have of the same kit. I'm enjoying this kit for the same reasons that this reviewer apparently did not like the kit. Yes, the parts fit together tightly, but they also align perfectly. And yes, there is laser charring, which the kit instructions expressly say is not necessary to remove and that the kit is designed with the non-perpendicular nature of laser cutting taken into account. And BTW, the bulkheads are cut from very thick plywood and are very sturdy; I haven't had one of them break yet, not even with some energetic sanding.

 

Anyways, I have found the kit a joy to work on so far. More later!

[Jim Rogers]

1 hour ago, ccoyle said:

I found this interesting review of this kit online:

 

 

The review shows how different a perspective two people can have of the same kit. I'm enjoying this kit for the same reasons that this reviewer apparently did not like the kit. Yes, the parts fit together tightly, but they also align perfectly. And yes, there is laser charring, which the kit instructions expressly say is not necessary to remove and that the kit is designed with the non-perpendicular nature of laser cutting taken into account. And BTW, the bulkheads are cut from very thick plywood and are very sturdy; I haven't had one of them break yet, not even with some energetic sanding.

 

Anyways, I have found the kit a joy to work on so far. More later!

This was a fun kit to build and quite handsome when completed.

[ccoyle]

Main deck, fore deck, and gun pit seats installed.

 

[ccoyle]

Got the first six strakes glued on, three per side. Sharp-eyed members will notice that I had a lapse in heeding my own advice about reading ahead; this resulted in my adding the keel pieces too early. They're supposed to be added after the planking is done. Oh, well -- not like I haven't planked a hull before with the keel already installed🙄. It's nice to have a rock-solid substructure to glue planks to.

[Katsumoto]

I think that the "MK" kits are superb engineered. I am sure you'll manage the last planking stroke at the keel and make a perfect fit even if the keel is already installed. Great job so far and I toggle along as well.

 

regards,

Peter

 

[ccoyle]

Slow progress ... a couple of planks here, a couple of planks there as time and interest allow. Twelve strakes on, six more to go. Did a little preliminary sanding and temporarily fitted the display cradle together, just for this shot.

 

[FingerSticker]

1 hour ago, ccoyle said:

 ... a couple of planks here, a couple of planks there as time and interest allow.

 

 

Keep going, Chris! You're doing an amazing build!

 

[ccoyle]

Hull planking completed and sanded. This is as far as I will get before traveling over Christmas break. Construction will resume in the new year.

 

[FingerSticker]

Hi Chris.

 

I guess it would be too much to ask to get a snapshot of the model in here featuring one of your fingers, just to ram home how 'big' this model really is?

 

From experience I know how difficult building a good looking model is when the model is small.

 

And I think this is a 'wee' model which makes the overall look so much more difficult to achieve …...

 

AND at the moment it looks smashing!

 

Adrie.

[ccoyle]

Hi, Adrie. For perspective, the blue squares on the cutting mat are 5 cm on a side. Not trying to be unduly modest, but a lot of the "smashing-ness" of the model is really due to the excellent design of the kit and not so much to any great skill on my part. Thanks for commenting!

[FingerSticker]

Hi Chris.

I think you are being too harsh on yourself. It helps a lot if the model that you are working on is well designed. I have seen Sjors' and Anja's struggles with their wooden model and a good design (and using good materials) IS very important but at the end of the day, the box (or booklet in case of a card model) that is in front of you, will be the same box that is in front of someone else and what you make of it depends solely on your skills.

 

So shall we meet in the middle and just state that you AND the kit manufacture both are making a 'smashing-ness included' model?

[ccoyle]

Small update. Decided to add a bit of color (technically, black = absence of color -- oh, well). Gave the hull a final sanding and going over with fine steel wool. Added the rear deck.

 

[mtaylor]

Looking pretty darn good there, Chris.   Overall, what's your impression of the kit and instructions?   I have the small boats and sometimes it's a bit of the reach to figure things out.

[Katsumoto]

She has some “colour”...or aint....difficult with black so to say. Did you use a stain or paint?

Nice progress!

[ccoyle]

@mtaylor: Mark, so far I think this is a great kit. I do think that the MK folks could benefit from having a native English-speaker go over their translated instructions to iron out the occasionally confusing bits, but the plans and diagrams help alleviate that problem. I'm currently working on creating some impressionistic bolt heads, and the wire supplied for the job is the wrong gauge to fit the holes in the metal work, but I've really had very few problems to this point.

 

@Katsumoto: I'm using paint -- cheap acrylic paint, in fact, but I like the results.

 

Cheers!

[ccoyle]

A bit more progress -- more than actually shows in the photo, really. Gun mount assembled (dry fit only for now), gun pit interior planking done, rudder completed, and iron strap on stem and stern posts done. I had to run out and get some new glue for that last job, as the CA wasn't doing the trick. I bought some "Rapidfuse" from DAP. It's supposedly twice as strong as CA and sets in 30 seconds. No complaints so far.

 

[bruce d]

Chris, I am new to this thread, so maybe this has already been established. Is this the same ship?

 

Bruce

 

[Jim Rogers]

40 minutes ago, bruce d said:

Chris, I am new to this thread, so maybe this has already been established. Is this the same ship?

 

Bruce

 

Yes.

[DPK]

3 hours ago, Jim Rogers said:

Yes.

Not quite. Something in between that and this:

 

Edited January 10, 2019 by DPK

[ccoyle]

Actually, that second one posted by DPK looks pretty much exactly like the model.

[bruce d]

Yes, I see it too. DPK, if you got this image from the Dansk Museum would you mind giving me the Image File Reference (A124c etc.)?

 

Chris, seeing your build makes me want one.

 

Regards,

Bruce