Model shipways flying fish

[Wizbang69]

Hi guys

im very new to model ship building but I’ve always been impressed by the standard and quality of some of the builds on here , 

my wife knows of my interest and at Xmas bought me the model shipways flying fish

i have never built a model ship before and this project has put me in at the deep end,

i started building the kit in January I’m just taking my time building the hull etc , but now I’m stuck I’m not quite sure how to carve the waterways the instructions on this part are very vague ,it says that the waterways have to follow the curvature of the hull .

 upto now I don’t think I’ve done a bad job on the build but I don’t want to mess it up on the waterways,

can anyone help please 

Edited February 20, 2019 by Wizbang69
Photo of flying fish build

[vossiewulf]

Start a build log, you'll get lots of help, and adding photos and/or plans to your posts will help a lot too, as it is now I have no real idea what the problem is. The waterways should be a narrow molding running along the deck/bulwarks joint and there were many different profiles used, but all were sloped inward and generally looked like a right triangle in profile.

[Roger Pellett]

We could help you better if you could tell us more about what you are trying to do.  Is your kit a solid hull or a plank on bulkhead,  are you trying to carve the waterway from the solid hull or you cutting a strip of wood to use? 

 

As as posted above the waterway is a timber at the junction between the deck and the bulwark.  In some solid hull models it is necessary to thin the bulwark.  Did you mean to say that you are trying to thin the bulwark?

 

like the old saying goes, "A look is worth a thousand tells."  Post a photo of your situation.

 

Roger

[Wizbang69]

On 2/19/2019 at 7:08 PM, Wizbang69 said:

Hi guys

im very new to model ship building but I’ve always been impressed by the standard and quality of some of the builds on here , 

my wife knows of my interest and at Xmas bought me the model shipways flying fish

i have never built a model ship before and this project has put me in at the deep end,

i started building the kit in January I’m just taking my time building the hull etc , but now I’m stuck I’m not quite sure how to carve the waterways the instructions on this part are very vague ,it says that the waterways have to follow the curvature of the hull .

 upto now I don’t think I’ve done a bad job on the build but I don’t want to mess it up on the waterways,

can anyone help please 

The piece of timber on the bottom photo is the waterway , 

[Wizbang69]

Hi guys hope these photos can help

[vossiewulf]

Looks like the waterway piece needs to be bent to follow the curve of the deck. They're specifying 3/16" into the deck area for its full run, and since the line it's following is curved, it must be bent to follow. And according to the instructions the waterway should go all the way to the bow, and therefore you have to cut notches in the outside face of the waterway for the timberheads sticking up on the first three bulkheads, I assume they are called B, 1, and 2 from the instructions.

[JerseyCity Frankie]

No need to bend anything. Flip the model upside down on a big sheet of paper or card and trace carefully the outermost extent of all the frames/bulkheads. This line represents the outboard edge of the waterway. On your paper copy you then draw the inner edge of the waterway parallel and inside of the first line, as wide as your waterway is going to be. Note that you really need just one side of the ship as the symmetry should assure that one line works for both sides. Now cut out your paper waterway- it will be a long curved ribbon. Lay it onto the model to see if it fits and if it doesn’t fit perfectly cut it with scissors and patch it with tape until it’s perfect. Lay this pattern piece onto sheet stock (available wherever fine basswood is sold at craft stores) and cut with x-acto knife. Flip the pattern piece upside down and cut the other waterway. Glue. 

[Katoom]

JerseyCity Frankie is heading you in the right direction, these waterways should not require you to do any significant bending. From the instructions it appears that Model Shipways intends you to form the waterway from a piece of stock 3/16" thick (the height of the waterway) but considerably wider than the 3/16" width on deck. This "extra" width of the blank allows you to account for the curvature of the ship bulwarks and, very importantly, the fact that in some places the bulwarks splay out so that the top surface of the waterway is more than 3/16" wide.  The piece of stock may not be wide enough to account for all of this over the entire length of the waterway in which case you will need to choose a point to create a joint or use a wider piece of stock.

 

  Good luck!

[Roger Pellett]

In the metal fabrication business bending a rectangular tube where the side to be bent is the widest of the two is called “bending the hard way” and this is an apt description here.  I don’t understand how the kit manufacturer intended you to bend a 3/16” thick piece of wood with a width wide enough to accommodate cutting out the inside curve.  Frank’s idea of cutting both sides of the curve from a sheet of 3/16” basswood is the practical solution.

 

Roger

[Wizbang69]

Hi guys 

thanks for the advice , I think franks method will be the easiest for me , I’ll keep you posted 

[Big Dipper]

Wizbang, I'm in the same boat as you (no pun intended). I also received a Flying Fish model for Christmas and find the plans to be rather vague in places - which is compounded by the fact that I've never put anything like this together.  I got the bulkheads, keel and  stern pieces together but found the waterway and planksheer to be a real problem - probably the first of many. I ended up ripping out the first waterway/planksheer pieces that I installed in that they did not properly  encompass the bow timberheads and failed to overlap the hull by the requisite 3/32". My second attempt at the waterway has gone somewhat better.

 

What I did was tape a piece of vellum to the plan view on sheet 2-2.  Taking special care to make sure I was copying the correct lines this time (the outboard dashed lines) I traced them with a French curve, cut out the velum pattern, contact cemented the pattern to a sheet of 3/8" basswood and cut out the waterway on a jig saw. It came out perfect this time around. Before I made the pattern I carefully traced the exact lines I wanted right on the plan itself and laid the velum over them. Please note that I didn't find anything in the kit that was wide enough to lay out the waterway on and had to go to a hobby shop for the basswood I needed.

 

I attempted Frankie's method, but  the irregularities of the flying fish hull and deck precluded getting an accurate copy of the hull outline. This method would probably work great for a boat with a flatter deck.

 

I  still have a lot of damage repair to do after my first disastrous  attempt at the waterway, as I had already cemented the planksheer to the waterway and ended up destroying the planksheer when I tried to salvage it. I also broke off the stanchions on the forward bulkheads but this may turn out to my advantage as I can lay the new waterway right over the forward stanchions and can now easily mark their locations and depth. The stanchions are easy enough to glue back after I get the waterway done. Now I have to figure out how to accurately make a new planksheer.  

 

Good luck with your project and if anyone has a way to replicate the kit provided planksheer please let me know.

 

Thanks, John Regan

[Wizbang69]

Hi john 

it’s nice to find out that I’m not just the only one who’s having problems with the waterways , I tried frankies method but couldn’t get a proper outline because of the irregularities in the hull , I also traced the outline direct from the plans this has worked better for me but I had to use a craft knife to cut them from a basswood sheet I purchased from my local hobby store , but to be honest I’m still not happy with efforts ! Hopefully it might look better once sanded to the curvature of the hull ,, you say you’ve broken the plank sheer ? Have you tried contacting model expo customer service department they might be able to help, John would it be possible if you could post some photos of your project I’m going to attempt the knight heads next , looking at the plans I think I need some help 🙁

thanks 

andy