Medway Longboat 1742 by Nunnehi - FINISHED

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Have just started this project after clearing my bench of the 1:200 Merit Hornet - that beast took years and I’m very much looking forward to a change! 

[Chuck]

Really nice start.  Good idea to build both stem/keel assemblies.  They both look excellent.  Now you just have to choose which one you want to use.

 

chuck

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Thanks, Chuck, I really appreciate it! I’m using the complex one but built both for practice and am following your instructions closely. I must say that both the model and your instructions are a breath of fresh air, especially after the Hornet with sub-millimeter photo etch that you cant see after it’s installed. 

 

Don

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Frames in place, now time for fairing...............

[KurtH]

Beautiful work.  Neat and clean, which are two attributes for which I constantly strive.

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Thanks KHauptfuehrer!

[Nunnehi (Don)]

An update - have been away for a few weeks, but have made some progress and installed the first three strakes and done a little sanding. Although you can’t really see it, I followed Chucks instructions about lining off the hull and it’s helped. 

[Nunnehi (Don)]

More progress - finished the planking and removed the baseboard and frames. I’m not real happy with the planking, but I’ve learned a lot. I’ve done some sanding and cleanup but much more to do. 

[Nunnehi (Don)]

A bit of progress over the Holidays - managed to get the caprails installed and painted, the floorboards and risers installed and the platforms made but not yet permanently installed. I’ve added the simulated nails and a couple of coats of wipe on poly bus am holding off applying the friezes until I’m through with painting. 

[Chuck]

That really is looking sharp!!!  Very cleanly and well executed.   Bravo!!!! 

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Thanks, Chuck, I appreciate it!

[BobG]

Your Longboat is looking great! I'm at the very same point in my build. I just finished the platforms in the bow and stern. Getting the notches cut so that the platforms sat low and level was challenging for me as a newbie. I'm learning that slowing down and being patient are the two most valuable qualities you can have for this hobby! I'm looking forward to watching your build continue. 

[Chuck]

Bob....that is a great observation....

 

Slowing down is half the battle.   Good on you!!!! 

 

Chuck

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Thanks, Bob! I tend to work in fits and spurts but being retired helps, and learning is definitely occuring😸. Slowing down is one of the hardest things for me to do but I realize it’s necessary. Almost all of my other efforts have been plastic so, for me, working with wood has been a real eye opener and I’m awed by some of the work posted on this forum. 

[Nunnehi (Don)]

More progress! Got the platforms installed as well as the cockpit seats. As I was assembling the seats, I realized that I had glued both sides up to be identical so that the decorative edges were not correct when installed. There was enough extra wood that I was able to make another set - thanks, Chuck! Was also able to use my Dremel to make the bow roller, belaying and thole pins, as well as using my hand drill to prep the mast. This is my first time doing this and it worked great although it did make a mess. The weather was unusually nice for this time of the year so I went outside to make the mast. 

 

Don

[BobG]

She's coming along nicely and looking great!

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Thanks, Bob!

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Almost done, just a bit of cleanup and touch up and then on to rigging! While fishing for compliments today from the Admiral (who absolutely does not understand why I had to spend several hundred dollars on a saw), her first comment was “nice........... you’ve built a fancy rowboat!” 😽😸🤣. 

 

Am looking forward to a nice stand from Syren and getting started on the Winchelsea, but that’s probably a bit down the way. 

[Ryland Craze]

You have done an excellent job on your Longboat.  I am looking forward to your masting and rigging.

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Thanks, Ryland, I appreciate it and am very much enjoying watching your build! I see you are a member of the Hampton Roads Ship Model Society. I recently visited the Mariners Museum and spent quite a bit of time with the Docent who was manning the model booth and who, I think, is also a member. Unfortunately, I can’t remember his name and I’ve lost his card, but we had a great conversation and I picked up some really good ideas from him. Great Museum and some really great people!

[BobG]

You've made a lot of progress recently and she's a beauty! I'm right behind you. I'm working on the windlass and the knees right now. I'll be following your rigging. I have the rigging kit but I've never rigged anything so I imagine it will present me with quite a few challenges.

 

Have you already purchased the Winchelsea kit? I've been admiring it and reading some of the beautiful build logs. I would love to build it but I'm not sure I have the skills to do her justice yet. The longboat has been the most challenging build I've done yet although it's is going pretty well for me. I would love to step into some scratch building though. So who knows...I might just take the plunge. I'd be swimming in everyone's wake though!

 

Bob

 

 

 

 

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Thanks, Bob - it has been a learning experience! This will be my first real attempt at rigging and I feel like a lost ball in tall weeds. I followed the instructions for tapering the mast using a hand drill and it worked pretty well so am moving forward. 

 

Yes, I have purchased the Winchelsea frame kit and the parts for Chapter 1. I’ve been closely following the builds posted here as well as Chuck’s tutorials and have joined the Winnie group. I really feel like I’m in way over my head and am somewhat intimidated but am retired so have the time to devote to it. Almost everything I’ve done before this has been plastic so working with wood has been challenging but very satisfying and I’m really enjoying it. 

 

Don

[BobG]

I was glad to see your mast tapering set up. I will be using a power drill for that set as well. I hoping that I can use my Dremel to shape the belaying pins. The brass straps will be the first time I've done anything with metal also so, like you, this build has been a great learning experience for me too. I'm retired also but I have a lot of interests that compete for my time. Spending time at my little modeling table is growing on me very fast though. 

 

Bob  

 

 

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Bob

 

The drill method worked fine to taper everything with a caveat. I followed Chucks instructions about pre drilling holes for rigging line and shaving off the corners to create an octagon before chucking in my drill. Despite my best efforts though, I could not get them to fit absolutely square in the drill which resulted in some wobble. I was able to operate the drill with my left hand and sand with my right which also controlled and largely eliminated the wobble. I pretty much tapered by eye with frequent comparisons back to the plans (see the pictures above) using a 120 grit to get the basic shape and finishing with a 320. 

 

Luckily I’ve had a lot of experience with photo etched brass on other projects and feel very comfortable with it. I don’t have any experience with blackening it, but have found that it holds enamel paint well so that’s the direction I’m heading. my other hobby

 

[BobG]

More progress. Keep it going...following your log is pulling me along!

 

Beautiful saxes! Seeing them brings back memories of my son when he attended a performing arts school during his middle and high school years and played tenor and soprano sax. I play guitar and have dabbled with a variety of musical instruments over the years including the Boehm and Irish flutes, piano, harmonica and the didgeridoo but my guitars get all my attention nowadays. I even got into making didgeridoos from raw logs until my wife said, "Enough, there's no place to put another didge in our house?" I still have a few logs that are anxiously awaiting their new life though...

 

 

 

 

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Bob

 

Thanks! I like to joke with my buddies who played football back in the day and can’t walk now that we’re still in the band and going strong! The Admiral (flute) and I play on a weekly basis in a variety of local community concert and dance bands with occasional Church gigs - a bari sax can roughly double a cello for the Church crowd. Does your son still play? Sop is probably the most challenging sax to play, I’m impressed! Do you still do anything with your flutes? I’ve always wanted to do something with a guitar but that’s just one too many..............😊

 

I’m intrigued by your didgeridoos. This is probably not the right place, (but it is making stuff out of wood) do you have pics?

 

Don

[BobG]

I do have some photos, Don, but I've never posted any on the site before. I like the size of the photos you are posting. What size setting are you using? I've been encouraged to start a build log but I've hesitated just because of the additional time commitment and also because I have the uncanny ability to make computer related work go sideways in any given instant! 

 

Actually, my son played alto and soprano, not tenor as I stated before and, unfortunately, his playing fell to the wayside once he went to college and now he's busy in his career. He may return to it someday. I came back to playing my guitar after a 30 year absence. I wish I had never set it aside for all those years but that's water over dam now.

 

Didgeridoos are fun to play. Learning to circular breathe is a challenge but, once you get it, it's like learning to ride a bike, there's a moment when it just happens and then it's there ever after. Check out some YouTube videos to see some state-of-the-art didge playing. It's unbelievable what some people can do. There have even been orchestral pieces written that feature the didge.

 

Anyway, I managed to make rods for the windlass using my Dremel but not before snapping two of them. I'm glad Chuck included an long piece of the 1/16 x 1/16 boxwood in the kit.

 

Bob 

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Bob,

I’m just using an iPhone for the pictures without doing anything special other than adjusting some lamps to minimize glare. They automatically transfer to my iPad (easy to set up) and I’m posting from there without any additional editing. I have done some serious photography in the past, but this is not and it’s really easy. 

 

Circular breathing is required for really serious musicians and I admire folks who can do it, but I haven’t really learned it yet - will give it another shot and look up some of those YouTube videos. The hardest part of playing bari is breath support, especially on the low notes. 

 

Congratulations on turning the windlass bars, I broke a couple too. It’s good that Chuck included extra wood as I also over-sanded one of the planks and had to make a replacement - part of the learning process. 

 

Don

[BobG]

I messed up a plank also and had to remove it and make another one. Then I actually sanded through a "bump" near the bow after I had all the planking done. I just couldn't bring myself to soak it in CA Un-cure and try to take it off and redo it at that point so I delicately made a small splice and glued it in. You can see it if you look closely. I not totally happy with it but my wife said, "You're the only one that's going to notice it." So my build has got some blemishes here and there but, overall, it's pretty nice so far. It seems to me that, unfortunately, we often learn more from our mistakes than from our successes and that appears to be true for me in this hobby! I read an old post here once where an experienced modeler advised a beginner to finish his build no matter what because that was the best way to learn and become more skilled. I thought that was sage advice and so I'm dedicated to finishing this build even if it isn't "perfect."

 

Breath support on the didge can be daunting. I've gotten dizzy playing a big bore didge that required lots of continuous air. People often think that circular breathing is breathing in and out at the same time which is physically impossible. The trick to circular breathing is to use your cheeks to squeeze a "pocket" of air from your mouth cavity to your instrument while simultaneously taking in air through your nose. The pocket of air from your mouth keeps the instrument going while you're taking air in through your nose. Those are two separate, physical actions that have to happen at the same time. It's learning to get the timing of these two physical actions in sync that is challenging to learn.

 

One way to begin to wrap your head around it is to take a paper straw and pinch it so that it restricts the airflow when you blow through it and you can feel the back pressure. Then place the straw in a glass of water and blow through it so there is a small, steady stream of bubbles coming out. Now fill your cheeks with air and practice pushing the air from your mouth through the straw as you squeeze your cheeks together and get a feel for that process. Then it's time to try and take a breath in through your nose when you need to and, when you do that, squeeze the air in your mouth out into the straw gently and simultaneously to try and keep the bubbles going. Trying to do this on this small scale is a bit easier since it doesn't require as much air as it would on your sax and visually having the bubbles as a reference can help.

 

It was exciting the first time I actually got several breaths linked together while maintaining the drone on didgeridoo. Have fun!

 

Bob

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nunnehi (Don)]

More progress. While waiting on a block tumbler from Model Expo, I went ahead and made and fitted the bowsprit and cut/served the shrouds, the backstays, and the forestay. I didn’t have a dark thread for serving so darkened it with a sharpie. Also received the beautiful stand from Chuck. 

 

Bob, I watched several YouTube didgeridoo videos and am impressed! I didn’t realize how many different sounds can be made with one - still working on the circular breathing.