18th Century Armed Longboat by Arthur Wayne - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:24 - Small

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

2 hours ago, Sea Hoss said:

Great work! thanks for the heads-up on the probable head-aches. I just received this kit yesterday so I will surely use your log to adjust the course. At first, I couldn't believe there was so many problems! But you pointed them out very well. I'll just go very carefully and take nothing for granted.

Be sure to check the thickness of the laser cut sheets. I found one containing the bulkheads thicker than the rest. 

[Arthur Wayne]

Luckily I didn't run into that issue DrPS but something I failed to mention in previous posts concerns the bow and stern platforms. The directions detail using the 1/4" x 1/16" plank scraps to create the platforms which is what I used. Long after they were installed I was looking at the wood I had left in the kit. Curiously there was a stack of 3/8" x 1/16" planks leftover and I wondered where on earth those were supposed to go. After looking at the Parts List under Wood Strips and Sheets section I noticed these are for the bow and stern platforms and the floor boards. I only used 2 for the floor boards so that leaves 8 for making the platforms. In the end I think using these wider planks would have been more akin to what is seen on the Medway Longboat.  

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Arthur, somewhere I got the impression that 3/8”x1/16” planks were also to used to form strakes #11, #12 and #13. Would there be enough to do the platforms, floorboards and strakes?  Is this what you were referring to on the Medway Longboat?

[Arthur Wayne]

DrPS good catch! I just looked back through the instructions and they do call for using 3/8" wide planks (a total of 4) for the #12 and 13 strakes. With 2 more going to the floorboards that leaves 4 left. Oddly enough the parts list doesn't mention them being used for strakes, it calls out using them for floorboards and platforms. If you look at the 1/48 scale longboat kit the platform planks are wider than the strakes. 

 

To answer your question more directly, I'm not sure there would be enough left over to make the platforms if you use 4 of them for strakes. 

[xken]

Arthur, not sure why you are experiencing the problems you are having. The boat in the pictures in the instructions were built from the laser cut parts in the kit and before being released M.E. also had two independent builders assemble the kit as well as part of the proof of production and the only issues were tweaks to the instructions for better clarification of terms for new builders. This is a standard practice I have asked M.E. to do with all kits I have done for them.

 

I also purchased 1/24 scale sailor figures for my build, not to be included with the kit just for my own display purposes. See attachments.

Here is an image of the rear cockpit area using the laser cut parts from the kit.

Here is just the hull completed with all the laser cut parts from the kit and all fitting well. As for the quality of the wood in the kit's Basswood that I have no control over; however, they do supply me all the materials used.

Good luck with the rest of your build, should be smooth sailing here on out.

 

[Sea Hoss]

Hey Ken, I am also building this kit. At this point, I've just clamped the garboard strakes to the keel rabbets. The only problem that I've had so far is the brittleness of the basswood. Maybe I was a little "heavy handed" while fairing the frames but even knowing they are fragile, 3 of them snapped off along with one side of the transom! And I do have a big old strong back on top. Not that big a deal, I pinned and glued them back together. I will be posting my progress in a new build log later today. 

[Arthur Wayne]

xken, thanks for the reply. Not sure why I am having issues, maybe my kit was produced on a Friday afternoon? 😀 Another builder completed this kit here, you can see in his photos that the cockpit seats came up short for him as well. In any event it's not an insurmountable obstacle. Hopefully I don't come off as complaining, my intent is to help anyone building this kit not make the same mistakes I did. 

[Arthur Wayne]

With the cap rail installed I was finally able to paint a number of coats on the thwarts, the cap rail and the exterior top strake. I skipped ahead in the instructions to add the rub rail. The rub rail is made from 1/8" x 1/8" strips shaped with a PE scraper included in the kit. Although the instructions call it half round, you can't make a square half (1/8" x 1/8" square stock) round. Additionally, the PE scraper half round is only 1/16" wide so it was unusable as is. I suspect this tool was included in the 1/48 scale kit and MS forgot to enlarge it 200%. Not the end of the world, it's easy enough to make another scraper which is what I did. I was unable to scrape a smooth consistent radius on the bass wood to my liking. I then experimented with alternatives and settled on making 1/8" wide by 1/16" strip. I terminated by rub rail flush with the transom. Once glued in place I brushed on a thin coat of wipe on poly. 

 

Now it was time to make the windlass. As with much of this build Chuck's Medway Longboat is a source of inspiration and I chose to emulate his methods. I didn't care for affixing the windlass directly to the thwart risers with a brass pin for a variety of reasons. I chose to create a windlass mount similar to the Medway Longboat. I just drafted a plan with Adobe Illustrator and created my parts from 1/16" sheet. I pre-nailed the part and then just glued it in place. 

Next I added the lifting rings to the floor. I thought the kit supplied eyebolt mount was kind of chunky and the rings seemed like the brass rod used was slightly oversized. I elected to make my own eyebolts and lift ring from brass rod. After painting they were installed, I still need to touch up the brass where I scraped it off during installation. 

 

Next I made the windlass. Again borrowing from the Medway build I created a drawing in Illustrator, and used stick glue to affix the drawing to the kit supplied square stock.

 

 

I used an #11 bladed to shaped the part which turned out to be much easier than expected. Once my carving was done I removed the paper template and, did my best to make round holes square and tapered the end to fit into the mount. When I was happy with the fit I final sanded the windlass and applied a coat of wipe on. 

 

To my happiness and surprise, the windlass fit and is easily installed and removed! 

 

Finally a top view of the boat at this stage of construction. I'm working on the windlass handles now, and will tackle the rudder next. Thanks for looking!

 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2019 by Arthur Wayne
Pictures out of order

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Hey, your boat is really looking great.  Is the scraper you mentioned just a half round piece of metal or something else? I have not seen the 1/48th scale boat scraper. 

[Arthur Wayne]

The scraper is the one that came with the kit, it's the square with the notches on the brass PE sheet in the kit. 

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Again reading ahead would be good - very good. 

 

When I read your log, I get ahead of myself and assume things which would be resolved easily by reading the appropriate section in the manual. Duh 🙄 

[JeffT]

Nicely done

[Stevinne]

On 5/1/2019 at 9:44 PM, Dr PS said:

Arthur, did you use the taping method when spiking from the second strake on or did you cut the second and third strakes by trial and error and error?

What is this taping method of which you speak?

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

2 hours ago, Stevinne said:

What is this taping method of which you speak?

If I may interject, go to an article posted in this forum:

http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/Lining Off your hull for planking.pdf

[Bob Cleek]

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 5:12 PM, Arthur Wayne said:

Next I added the lifting rings to the floor. I thought the kit supplied eyebolt mount was kind of chunky and the rings seemed like the brass rod used was slightly oversized. I elected to make my own eyebolts and lift ring from brass rod. After painting they were installed,

 

Very nice, clean, crisp work! It looks great.

 

May I suggest that you consider revisiting your lifting rings? I don't know what the kit-supplied rings look like, but, to my eye, at least, being familiar with full-sized boats of this type, the "big, clunky" rings that came with the kit are probably correct. (I'd be surprised if any detail was out of scale on this kit model, considering where it came from.)

 

The lifting rings must carry the entire weight of the boat, plus her rig, all her gear, and most, if not all of her crew. These boats were not lightly built, either, as they needed to be able to survive a fair bit of banging about in use. The lifting ring eyebolts would have been set in substantial pads and probably through-bolted to the keel, rather than a simple screw-shanked eye. The rings would have been surprisingly large in order to carry the weight they needed to. What I see in the above pictures are rings that appear too small. 

 

It's your model, of course, and a very nice one, so do as you wish. I only mention it because if you were of a mind to rethink it, it's a very easy change to make.

 

 

Below is a standard USN motor whaleboat. The lifting rings are in the square, three-sided wells at the bow and stern (between the cleats.) As you can see, the rings are petty husky, and keep in mind that these rings are made of modern materials. The original of the model would have had hand forged wrought iron rings that may have been heavier still.

 

 

[Arthur Wayne]

I appreciate the insight and taking time to help out! As you surmised this is very easy to undo. I'll pull these out and set the kit supplied parts in place to see what looks better, I hope you will see the post and provide feedback. 

[Arthur Wayne]

Micro Update: I made the windlass handles from the kit supplied wood. I deviated from the kit instructions which have you create a tenon on the end of the handle to be inserted into the mortise on the windlass. I chose to create handles similar to those Chuck created for his Medway Longboat and are also apparent in the contemporary museum models in his post. This seems a simpler solution to me that makes sense in the real world, that's my rationale for the KISS approach. At any rate I simply rounded the square kit stock with my drill and sanded the flat ends to a slight taper to fit the windlass. I'm still debating on painting the top half of the handles red per the kit instructions. 

 

I've moved onto the rudder assembly. After sanding away the lovely char laser cutting gits us with, I tapered the rudder and rounded the leading edge. I then created the first of 2 tillers. The first tiller was made according to the instructions, nothing difficult to write about however the tiny tenon that I created was snapped off at some point only to be discovered after I finished shaping the hand grip. Round 2, I omitted the tenon and made the handle from a separate piece. It just happens that this particular piece of wood is very soft (almost like hard balsa), hand carving even with sharp blades was causing chunks to come loose. I opted to turn the handle using a cordless drill, Dremel and some sandpaper. I will pin it on the tiller with brass rod. I will also use a harder wood to create a tenon to affix the tiller to the rudder. I also just noticed in my photo below that the rudder is facing the wrong direction in relation to the tiller. 

 

In between waiting for wipe on poly and paint to dry, I've been cleaning up all of the metal fittings which are now done and ready for paint. I just might have a fighting chance to finish this model before I move. 

 

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Arthur, I wonder if the prototype builder had the same problems with the rudder and tiller? I am not looking forward to possibly running into the same issues. 

 

BTW, your square “holes” look really good. I got mine fairly square but had trouble getting them uniform. 

 

Leaving the state soon?  Maybe you’ll decide to retire here someday. Anyway, the internet reaches everywhere. 

[Arthur Wayne]

xken built the prototype and all I can say is, he's a wizard! This particular piece of wood was soft and pithy so my first attempt was a no-go. Hopefully you'll have better results. As for the square holes, they aren't as easy as they look are they? I would have redone this part but I expect it would have came out the same but thanks for the compliments. I see you've just about caught up to me Paul, you are cranking right along!

 

Yes I'm leaving the Army thinks I've been here long enough, I'm off to school later this summer and will find out where I'm gonna land sometime before I finish in December. We have really enjoyed Texas and will miss it a lot, it's a really cool state to live in. 

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Arthur, I hope your schooling goes well. What is your chosen field of study?

 

A question on the build, is the horse really square?  At 5/64”, there will be nothing left of the rod. I am tempted to just leave it round. Do you know what the prototype was?  I have been scouring the builds but have not found anything yet. 

 

I am adding and edit to this post as I went back in your log and found the entry by xken and his horse I think appears to be round and not square.  I will proceed as I was inclined to do and go with round unless I find out differently.

Edited June 10, 2019 by Dr PS

[Arthur Wayne]

Paul I'm just going to an aircraft qualification course, this will be my 7th so it's duck soup and a welcome break from duties.

 

7 hours ago, Dr PS said:

A question on the build, is the horse really square?  At 5/64”, there will be nothing left of the rod. I am tempted to just leave it round. Do you know what the prototype was?  I have been scouring the builds but have not found anything yet. 

 

I am adding and edit to this post as I went back in your log and found the entry by xken and his horse I think appears to be round and not square.  I will proceed as I was inclined to do and go with round unless I find out differently.

I think you're talking about the tiller? It's made from 5/64" square stock and is square where it attaches to the rudder but tapers and becomes round on the other end. If you're talking about the horse (the bar that spans the rear cockpit seat just in front of the transom) that is made from round brass rod. 

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Arthur, your schooling plans sound great.  All the best.

 

I am referring to the horse made of the 3/64" round bar.  In the picture from the manual which I am showing below, it looks to me like they squared it off.

 

[Arthur Wayne]

Paul, I got what you're saying. I don't think it gets squared off.  If you look at the photo of the kit prototype xken built in post #35 above, it looks like round brass rod to me. Also check out the Medway Longboat, the horse is made from round stock I believe. 

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

I did check out Medway and I think you are right. Thanks Paul 

[Arthur Wayne]

At the recommendation of Bob Cleek in his post earlier I replaced my eyebolts with the beefier kit supplied version. I also installed the mast bracket, which I drilled through and nailed to the thwart. I also added the bolt detail to the mast foot. The kit supplied nails were too thick or the laser cut holes to small and close to the edge to drill out so, I used straight pins as a substitute. 

I also got around to adding the locker hinges, I added bolt detail to them small nails. I also trimmed my tiller to the final length, it's held in place by the pin and a little friction. I may or may not glue it permanently later.

With the rudder sealed with wipe on poly and painted, I installed the eyebolt in the transom. The eyebolt shank is square so I filed it round so that it would plug into the transom without leaving a gap. Once the hole was drilled I painted the transom and then installed painted eyebolt, the pintles and the gudgeon. I chose to install the photo etch decorations at this stage, versus after the boat has had it's mast and rigging installed. I was worried this would be more difficult to make look right than it was. I painted the etch parts while they were still on the fret with Krylon Metallic Brass. I laid on 4 light coats and then several heavy coats. This helped soften the edges of the photo edge brass which makes them look less like photo etched brass. I used thin CA wicked at the edge of each etched part in small strategic spots as recommended by the instructions. Once they were all in place I went back with paint and touched up the small glossy spots of CA. I started with the transom first. 

I then added the etched parts to the top strake. I wasn't sure I would like how this would look and considered leaving the etch parts off however I think it makes the model look very nice and less monotonous.

 

I thought about painting just the top strake and transom black, I think that would really make this model pop. Truth be told I didn't want to lay on more layers of paint and risk getting black paint oozing through to the inside so I chickened out and stuck with the red. All in all I still think it's a nice detail to add to the model and well worth the effort. 

 

Thanks for looking, I appreciate any constructive comments or criticisms. 

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Arthur, your boat really looks good.  The trim pieces really make the boat stand out.  I can't wait to get mine on although I will probably work in the order of the manual.  I think your tiller came out very well.  I glued my tiller into the rudder and, without thinking, cut the excess off the back side - not a serious error I hope. 

 

On another note, I am having problems with the main mast (see my last post) and I think your discovery that the mast brace was too large for the 5/16" mast is an issue that may mean the mast dowel provided is too small.

[Sea Hoss]

Looks great!

[Arthur Wayne]

With the hull pretty much done, I'm starting to move on with the mast/bowsprit etc. Dr PS brought this up in his build log, the instruction manual misidentifies 2 parts that could cause confusion. The boom ring and horse traveler are identified in the instruction manual as being the opposite of each other so the below picture is informational to anyone building this kit and correctly identifies the 2 parts. 

Early on the build I noticed the cutout in the mast thwart was 3/8" diameter whereas the mast is 5/16". I couldn't get the mast straps to snug up to the mast using the kit thwart so I made a new mast thwart. Now that I am starting to shape the mast I discovered the boom ring is way too big to fit the 5/16" mast, in fact it's inside diameter is 3/8". Below is kit provided 5/16" mast set with the boom ring. Oddly, the mast foot is just a hair over 5/16" which it should be so the mast slips in with a tiny bit of wiggle room. As it stands, the room ring will not be usable for me but making one from brass shouldn't be too big of a task. Another option would be to enlarge the hole in the mast foot (too late for me to do it's already installed) and obtain/make your own mast with a 3/8" diameter at the bottom. 

It's also worth pointing out the kit supplied belaying pins are quite nice. Unfortunately the laser cut holes for the belaying pins on the supplied mast thwart are just a hair smaller than the widest point in the belaying pin. The pins when inserted flop all around, I don't think they will work with these holes when rigging the model as they will always be cocked over at an angle. Reason #2 I made a replacement mast thwart. 

In the mean time, I prepared the thwarts. I wanted to keep these parts as straight and square as possible so I inserted 2 pieces of the dowel provided for the thwarts into a stack of thwart mounts and sanded the whole shebang at one time. This helped keep them square and true. 

 

Thanks for looking, I appreciate any comments or criticisms. 

 

[Dr PS - Paul Schulze]

Arthur, if you want to use a 3/8” mast, it is quite easy to file the bottom of the mast to fit the mast foot. It will never show. 

[Arthur Wayne]

This may sound weird but I don't think it will look right that way. Besides that, my thwart and mast straps are already set for a 5/16" mast. It will be far easier for me to make a boom ring at this stage. Hopefully others building this kit notice this issue and can adjust the mast foot and procure a 3/8" mast, that would be the best solution to plan for. Had I noticed this early on, that's what I would have done. In all fairness, figuring things like this out is half the fun,.... I think.