Half Moon by popeye the sailor - Billing Boats - 1:40 scale kit

[mtaylor]

Just incredible service... wow!!!  Beyond impressive.

[popeye the sailor]

thanks for the good word Vivian.....glad to see your following along.   I hope your feeling better    the detail that these little parts lent to the model is quite visible,  in comparing the rigging diagrams side by side.  perhaps one day......one build,  I can come up with a ship that is as close to accuracy,  as some of the builds that I've seen.  I know I don't possess some of the skills,  that these accomplished modelers do,  but I'm sure there's a way to work around them and compensate.  I'd like to think that any model company would extend a hand,  and help the modeler,  no matter what the project is,  they're working on.   I think that it's good public relations,  and if they weren't,  they wouldn't be selling the accessories to build them.  one thing I do find strange........but I understand why......is that at no time during our exchange.......no name was given for the person I dealt with.   I like to at least know who I am dealing with.....the name to the face thing,  but in this case,  I guess it's not important.  at the bottom of post #695,  I copied and pasted the bottom comment to an e-mail,  adding that I received the parts and thanked them again,  and e-mailed it off to Corel.  I thought they deserved the courtesy and kudos.  I wasn't expecting a reply,  but I got one...thanking me for the e-mail and have a nice day    in all my days working with plastic, never had I such re-pore,  as I have dealing with companies,  working with wood  

 

thanks Mark........I guess I'm a lucky guy.   so often,  I've read where folks have run into problems in their builds,  ordered part from the company that makes their kit.....never gets a reply,  or takes a month of Sundays to get their replacements.   I did a little bit of customer service for Tom @ Billings....you would not believe what some folks write.   glad I'm not like that      I'm no stranger to simply making another part,  or running around in craft stores.......I've even ordered parts and paid for them.   if it's an honest mistake,  that's one thing,   but I have better things to do,  than cry over spilt milk  

 

boy!.......your going to be one busy guy Gary!  I wish I had the money to get the Titanic.....or even the Warrior!   I had asked Tom if I could get a copy of the plans for the Warrior.....but that was a while ago.  the Wasa {Vasa} and the Norske Love is on my list as well,  but they are still out of my price range    actually,  I have quite a few parts diagrams already..........all I would need to do is have them blown up to a much larger scale......that might be fun to do!      you've done some splendid work Gary....keep up the good work!  I haven't done anything Mantua yet.....you never know!     one of these days,  I hope to see my way towards getting an order to Roger @ Ages of Sail.......I see he did a slight revamp on the Billing USA site......good to see he's still running it  

[Vivian Galad]

Popeye, as I have a Corel kit on my shelf, that´s so nice to know they work that way. My next build will be their Cocca Veneta and your words bring me confidence to build it. ^^

[SGraham]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with Corel, Popeye. I love hearing about businesses that go out of their way to do the handsome thing. I'm building their Shenandoah right now, and their Half Moon is waiting on the shelf.

 

Steve

[popeye the sailor]

sounds like a good plan Gary........wish I could do it at this time.   I have plenty to do at the moment.....perhaps by then,  my finances will be more open for me.   I'll keep it in mind  

[popeye the sailor]

now that I have these little baubles........I guess I better figure out a good way to drill the holes in 'em.  I made up a block of wood,  with a tape across the span,  to stick them on.

 

 

 

I first tried to use a prick punch to center the holes in the mouths.  all that did was make an impression in the wood.   I then thought that if I drilled a shallow well for them to lay in,  I might be able to drill the holes from the back.

 

 

that had only limited success..........I was in the center......in line with the mouth,  but would tip causing me to go off course.   lucky for me I have ten of them to work with   a drill press would be good to have for this......but I don't have one,  so I needed to come up with another plan.  I took my triangular file, and made a flat spot in the mouth area........I have some dental bits,  and I used the smallest one to drill a well in the mouth,  as a guide for the drill.   drilling the holes was as far as I got with 'em at the moment.  I'm hoping I can get her back out and do a bit more ...........still need to do the paint and clear coat before I can continue on.

[Walter Biles]

Popeye,  What are those little badges for and why are you drilling holes in them?  I think I missed something in my perusal of your log.  What is the emblem in each one.  I could not tell from the pictures.

 

Walt Biles

[jct]

Hey Popeye,

I used a modelers awl and pin vise with a number 72, through the mouth, under a magnifying light to get the process started.  Drilled a pilot hole all the way through and then just stepped up the hole size, working from the back to the front. Seems that once you get past the plating layer the metal is fairly soft, least on my samples they were.  As to holding, I used a small vice for the pilot hole, I didn't worry about crushing them as I had a lot of cleanup to do on mine anyway.  Hope that helps some

J

[popeye the sailor]

they are decorations for the sheet / tack ropes Walter..........I should be cementing them in place shortly.    you'll get a good idea of their purpose later..    thanks for looking in my friend!  

 

 

they are all drilled J..........I'll choose the best ones and paint them.  trying from the front......there was a lot of slippage,  one side or the other.......hard to start the drill.   I should have an update shortly

[mobbsie]

Hi Denis, what sort of material are those decorations made of, most are made of white metal which is very soft and don't give any trouble at all to work on.

 

Looking good mate keep it up.   :)      

 

Be Good

 

mobbsie

[torpedochief]

I have this kit also POPEYE. Following right along.  You really are a speedy, yet a builder of supreme quality.  Great work! 

[popeye the sailor]

they actually are a hard metal........brass coated.    i kinda wished they were softer.......the pro: easier to drill.......the con: easier to mar the detail of the lion's face.   it took a little bit to do it,  but they are all done.........all they need now is prep and paint.   thanks for the good word Mobbsie!  

 

 

do you have a build log going on it Don?   I'm paused at the moment,   but I should be picking back up on her very soon.  thanks for the good word.......hope your enjoying following along

[popeye the sailor]

in seeing what the Corel kit supplies for Jct for his ship's boat,  I thought it would be kinda neat to show you what the Billing kit offers.   they utilize a plastic boat fitted with wood parts.  there are just these parts,  as far as I can see....... although you must keep in mind,  that there are some parts missing in this kit.

 

looking at the parts diagrams,  I was a bit befuddled......the number stamped on the mini panels don't match up.......and I got two of them to boot!  I do have a couple of ideas running through my head for these parts.....one of them is to scratch out the keel and omit the plastic.....do the whole boat from scratch.   I'll look at my options and go from there

 

 

there should be only one of these parts panels in the kit.......these have an 'L' suffix.  the panel that goes to this kit has a 'T' suffix.   I am not sure what kit these go to......a boon?  I think so

 

the kit diagram of the parts panel only had six parts to it.........2 - # 30 parts,  and 4 - # 31 parts

 

 

in looking up any sort of assembly for the boat.....this is all I found

 

 

 

I also need to make another pair of cleats.   I have the regular style cleats,  but as you can see how they were laser cut,  one of the pairs were on the parts panel that this kit is missing.   still more to do in making the parts I need for her.

 

 

*footnote*:   after I had written this,  I tried a dry fit with the cap rail and the boat,  and I found that these don't match up either.  it's looking more and more like a scratch build.....hmmmmmmmmmm

 

well..........now,   that settles that,  now doesn't it?!?!

Edited June 17, 2014 by popeye the sailor

[augie]

From the plans, it just looks like you need a keel and the thwarts......and that doesn't match up with what you have.  Knowing you, something better will evolve!

[NAZGÛL]

Oh, that's not much info on how to construct the boat. The cleats look like they could be scratched if you don't find replacements?

 

 

/Matti

[captainbob]

Ah, the joys of kit building.

 

Bob

[jct]

Hey Popeye...As you've warned so many... watch out for the scratch bug ,   those laser cut pieces look like potential ribs to me..The plastic shell could serve as a good planking buck...if you glued the planks with PVA it would pop right out ...just a thought.  Will you paint her out when she's done? 

J

[Piet]

Bummer Popeye but with your abilities it'll all come out just great.  It just takes a little more time but that doesn't alleviate the frustration.

 

Cheers,

[NenadM]

 

 

...  it's looking more and more like a scratch build.....hmmmmmmmmmm

 

 

 

Be careful my friend, there is no way back from dark side 

[Shazmira]

Popeye, I have seen your scratch building before, so I have no doubts that you will do a fine job on something a simple as this

[Jim Lad]

Good to see that you've got such comprehensive instructions for building the boat, Popeye.    If you're going to scratch build the boat (which looks like the case), could I suggest that you ditch all the kit parts and use some decent wood for all of it.

 

John

[popeye the sailor]

hey Bob...............BASHMAN!!!!!!!!!  

 

yes folks..........that seems to be the ticket around here!  I'll have to make a decent boat......there are two ways to do it,  and I think with what I have here......I'll try both!

 

yes John.....other woods......but I hate to see good parts go by the wayside   I'll try to use them.....but in a nice way,  of course.

 

if I were to use this boat as a plug J........it might come out too large.  the skeg looks too modern as well.

 

too late Nenad......I'm already there!      {can you see me waving to you?}

 

thanks to all who commented and for the likes.........I think it's kinda cool,  actually.   it's not every day,  that you'll see two ship's boats trying to woo over a ship,  that they hope to find themselves nestled in.   it's kinda like watch'in  'the bachelor' ...........but to keep with the medium,  I think I'll call it.........'the bashlor'  

Edited June 18, 2014 by popeye the sailor

[NenadM]

too late Nenad......I'm already there!      {can you see me waving to you?}

 

 

Yes, Denis, I felt something, and until now I didnt know what it is

 

 

Let the Force be with you

[popeye the sailor]

too cool!  

[popeye the sailor]

well folks......this was a very interesting couple of days.   I got a good head start on these boats.  the one thing I noticed,  is that there is no real curve to the gunwale {cap rails},  so i really don't need any type of jig to make the frame.   to do the scratch built one,  I will use the gunwale {cap rails].....I traced out the keel,  and cemented it on it.   I checked the gunwale to the diagram and found that it's the same size.

 

 

no pictures of the tracings...I'm afraid,   I was too far under the spell

 

 

in punching the parts out of the block,  I saw that they are too thick

 

 

so,  with the other parts block,  I thought to cut it in half.   it worked OK for the most part,  a chunk did break out of the halves........but the pieces can be glued back on

 

 

I did it with the scroll saw......I went out there and located the broken piece.  I was able to do this using the jig,  that I made to cut the Annegre.  made the perfect guide   the transom halves were made by tracing the stern of the plastic boat.......after cementing them in place,  I saw that they were too big and later trimmed them down.

 

 

punching out the 'adjusted' ribs......these look much better

 

 

some of the cast off wood was used to make the stern rabbits.....the first pair of ribs were cemented in place.  I made up a jig to measure out where the ribs were to go.

 

 

....and then the second pair

 

 

for the third and fourth pairs of ribs,  the larger ones will be needed.   to be sure that the widest part of the hull is achieved,  these ribs will be reversed,  to use the long end to the best advantage.

 

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

since I got a head start on the scratch built boat,  I thought I'd get started on the plastic one.    I got an idea to compare this boat with the one from the trawler build.   there is a slight difference at the bow stem, but otherwise,  the two look very close.

 

 

 

a small impression at the skeg,  is the only difference .   the third pair of ribs were added to the scratch build.

 

 

 

the fourth pair were set up......being careful that both sides are done the same way

 

 

planking the plastic boat was just as I remembered it................there were times where my fingers were fused to the boat.........but I sanded it as I went along,  so you'd never know it  

 

 

the last ribs were added to the scratch built one.......adding an extra one to control the planking's turn at the bow.

 

 

 

time to finish up on the planking........and then plank the other plastic boat,  while I was at it.   how many other ship's boats are going to come out of the closet?

 

 

soon........both plastic boats were done

 

 

 

the scratch built one was removed from the jig.  it needs to be fared now......I need to see if I have any more of that thin planking.   I want to use basswood......but I might use the Annegre

 

 

I also tried to cut the wider ribs in half........this met with limited results.   I can still cement the pieces back together,   once I figure out which ones go where ?!?!

 

[NenadM]

Maybe you can whistle and right one will answer to call

 

I made similar headache with stanchions, waterports, ... 56 white panels, and with tolls which always use their hidden legs to walk of the place I left them

 

Good and inspirative work for my four boats when time will come. I realy like it

Edited June 20, 2014 by Nenad M

[jct]

I love it...3 lil boats, and they all look really good, very nice work.

J

[Piet]

Nice work Popeye, very impressive on the scratch!

 

Cheers,

[augie]

Plank a plastic boat?  Sorry, can't be done.

 

TERRIFIC IDEA!