Gunboat Philadelphia by dzerbato - Model Shipways - First Wooden Ship Model

[dzerbato]

I've started my first wooden ship kit build. I chose the Philadelphia for a number of reasons. Due to it's hull shape, large scale and relatively simple rigging, I thought it would be a good foray into model wooden ship building. (To be candid, I built the Independence by AL when I was an early teenager, but had no real knowledge of what I was doing). As of the creation of this log, I've completed the exterior planking and nearly finished the ceiling planking. The other build logs here have been very helpful and I've taken some pointers in building my kit. I've not encountered any serious issues, although I did note that as I planked the exterior, I encountered an issue where the planks would curve up at a joint to form a heart, particularly near the bow and stern. I largely corrected this as I proceeded and blame my inexperience. I think it is due to me not being as accurate with the widths and following the marked bulkheads as I should have. This kit also is a great one to learn spiling as the planks are large and there are not too many of them. That being said, I spent many hours fitting, cutting, sanding and trimming to get a decent fit, and I certainly got better towards the end. The exterior planking is "ok" in my mind, but I did learn a lot. I also learned that despite the markings on the bulkheads, I wish I would have made the rabbet deeper. Anyways, here are some pictures.

 

My First spiled plank as neither the top two or the wale needed any spiling or tapering.

 

 

Starting the ceiling planking

 

 

 

[Bossman]

Very nice! I think your doing a fine job. 

[dzerbato]

Here are some additional pictures to show where I'm at. Exterior planking finished.

 

 

 

 

[BobCardone]

Looks good! Did you use templates for the spiling? I'm thinking of using cardstock mockups and then cutting the planks from those.

It's cool that there are two new builds if the Philadelphia in the build log now.

I'm looking forward to your progress!

BobC 

[dzerbato]

I started using tape, but it didn’t work for me. I did end up using card stock, pinned it and marked it. Then used French curves to connect the dots. 

[dzerbato]

Here's an update on my progress. I was able to nearly finish the ceiling planking and have started on the decking. I didn't like the kit supplied decking, so I made my own from basswood sheets. I also found that the kit decks didn't fit great. I don't know if this just resulted from small errors along the way, or if it's a design flaw. For the bow deck, I decided to make it two pieces, like the kit, and scribed the individual deck joints. For the amidships decking, I used individual planks. I couldn't find 3/4" planks locally, and ran out of the kit supplied ones for the exterior planking, so I bought some 1" planks and cut them down. I slightly sanded the edges and used a standard pencil to simulate caulk. I also started on the cannon carriages and barrels. I did note, as others have for this kit that the britannia metal barrels are not great. Mine had some recesses on the surface that I ended up filling with putty. However, they are terrible and with some work, they come out ok. I also added some details to the carriages including scribing a line in the middle to simulate a two piece side, and simulating bolts on the front.

 

 

Once I'm finished the middle section, a little sanding will make everything line up nice.

 

Note that the left side below has not been glued down yet. Ceiling planking still needs some sanding, but it's taking shape.

The new decking has a much better fit than the kit provided ones. No putty (yet, lol).

Edited February 10, 2020 by dzerbato

[BobCardone]

Your Philly is progressing nicely! I had the same issues with the decking, and decided on about the same solution you did. Luckily, my local hobby store had some 1/16" x 3/4" basswood in stock so now I have enough to do the decks. I cut templates for the spiling as you suggested, and so far (I'm on the third course now) it works excellent. Now if I could only quit denting the wood with my fingernails...😬

   I agree that the 9 and 12 pound cannons are really poor quality. On this kit the cannons are kind of the "center of focus" and need to be done right. Good work on making them decent.

I'm really enjoying your build, have you decided on stain or finish yet?

Edited February 10, 2020 by BobCardone

[dzerbato]

Still considering the finish, haven't found something I like yet. I had an issue with some clamps denting the wale while it was soaked and clamped to dry. Basswood is certainly soft.

[BobCardone]

One thing you might want to look at is the deck height. I found that when I dry fitted the cannons and deck that the cannons do not depress enough... they hit the gunwales.  I think the kit was supposed to have a layer of 1/16" boards on top of the 1/16" laser cut decks. That raises the deck enough to give the cannons a proper range of elevation/depression. My fore and aft kit decks are not warped, so I'll use them as a substrate for planking with 1/16" x 3/4" boards. My center kit deck is totally warped beyond saving, so I'll shim up the frames under it 1/16" with scabs and then lay the plank. I think the manufacturer cheapened the kit with the poorly cast cannons and removal of individual deck planks. 

[dzerbato]

I’ll need to check the cannons. I just added the wheels to the two 9lb carriages and finished the middle decking so should be ready to go.

[dzerbato]

Just a quick update. I finished the middle section planking and the bow planking. Only a few ceiling planks left. I mocked up the cannons to check for clearance, seems fine. The carriage are not quite complete yet but getting there.

 

 

 

 

[BobCardone]

I see it looks like you have enough travel to clear the gunwales on maximum cannon depression. Maybe your gunwales came out a little bit lower than mine, even though it doesn't look like it. If I put a piece of scrap to simulate the gunwale cap this is a shot of what my issue is...

Now I'm using a different cannon barrel and carriage wheels, but I don't think that's an issue. 

I don't know what the normal operating elevations on the cannons is supposed to be, but it seems to me that a greater depression would be desirable. Perhaps an armory expert can chime in...

 

 

Edited February 11, 2020 by BobCardone

[dzerbato]

That's interesting. Yours definitely seems to have a clearance issue. My barrels have a high elevation right now as the carriages aren't finished, but they should have enough clearance to have a lower angle. BTW, you did a nice job with your carriages. Also, that cannon doesn't look like the one that came in the kit. Where did you get it? 

[BobCardone]

I think I can fix it by shimming the gun deck about 1/16"-3/32". The fore and aft decks are fine. The cannons came from Guns of History Naval Smoothbore kit # MS4005. Model Shipways had a sale 39.95 regularly 49.95 with 40% off that price so I got a pair of kits for $48.00. Much easier and better solution than trying to fix the kit ones. I'm still going to build the two Guns of History kits using the Philly cannons. The wheels came from a trio of toy cannons I got from Goodwill. I'll be using a cannon barrel from those for my 12 pounder. I'll document that in my build log.

   Thanks on the carriages, a lot more work to do with stain, bolts and rigging. Here's a shot (in progress) of the 12 pounder with the heavily modified Goodwill barrel. Stain is Minwax Gunstock.

 

   

 

Here's the cannons as they came from Goodwill... lots of cool parts I'm going to use. I believe they were meant to shoot small pellets, so I ground off the end and grafted the one from the kit on.

 

 

[dzerbato]

I've made a bit more progress. The decking is now complete. I ended up using individual planks for the stern deck. You can see the color variation basswood has. I've also finished the knees on the starboard side. You'll notice some glue residue in the gap space as despite the template and plans' best efforts, I put a knee in the wrong location and had to move it. I've also started on the stern lockers. As with the provided decking material, I did not like the provided pieces for the lockers, so I made my own out of basswood sheet. I added some scrap wood as a support for the front piece. I'm hoping to have the lockers and knees completed soon, then I'll construct the 12lb cannon slide and then stain the interior. 

 

The completed decking.

Knees started and comings installed.

Knees completed on starboard side.

Fabricating the lockers from basswood sheet. I made sure to bevel the edge to get a nice fit against the ceiling planking.

Dry fit of completed locker. Much better matches the rest of the interior. I left a slight edge on the front of the locker, about 1/32". This did two things, it made the other laser cut side piece fit better as they seemed to be slightly too short. It also created a "handle" allowing the lid to be raised if this was a working locker. I wasn't able to find any information on whether the lockers had handles, so I figured a little lip would help open it.

 

[BobCardone]

Good idea on the lockers. Your planking looks great, using individual boards makes it easier and has a better look. What colors are you going to use for the hull and ceilingwork?

I wonder what kind of stuff was stored in those lockers... on my build I may have one open...

Enjoying your build!

[dzerbato]

I've decided on using Minwax Natural for the interior, and a mix of Gunstock and Early American  for the exterior. I am very happy I went with individual planks for the decking, looks much better IMO.

[dzerbato]

The main interior part is completed. I built the 12lb cannon slide and finished the lockers and knees. Next up is staining.

 

Edited February 19, 2020 by dzerbato
Grammer

[dzerbato]

I've now have the hull and deck stained. The deck is just Minwax Natural and the exterior is a 5/2 mixture of Minwax Gunstock to Early American. The exterior color is exactly what I was going for, but I'm still contemplating how well it goes with the natural interior. I've also started to add some details such as bolts on the knees. I did a test batch of using a blackening agent on various brass hardware and they came out very well. Much easier than painting, IMO, and a better finish. Here are some pictures. 

 

 

Here is my attempt at simulating bolts. After reviewing many other's build logs, I decided to blacken some brass nails, drill a hole and insert them. Easy and gives the effect I wanted. I think the bolt heads may be a bit just a tad bit too small for scale, but they are close. 

 

 

[DonInAZ]

Noob Question:  So is this kit meant to be a waterline model or were these types of boats really as flat-bottomed as the kit is?

 

Excellent work so far BTW... It's a really interesting model.

Edited February 20, 2020 by DonInAZ

[dzerbato]

It’s a flat bottom boat. I picked to ease into a number of different skills needed to build these ships. Definitely an interesting boat.

[dzerbato]

So I want to give credit where credit is due. While I'm sure others have done/created similar techniques, I tested BobCardone's technique for simulating nails, and at least at this scale, it's very convincing and easy to do. Perhaps with a harder wood than basswood it may be a bit more difficult, but for the small sample I did, it came out great. Very quick and easy. Here are my results after about 5 minutes. The ball point pen adds a nice indent which creates a great 3D effect. I did use thin masking tape rather than a pencil line to keep things straight. I just squared it up at the bottom to make sure it ran true.

 

Edited February 21, 2020 by dzerbato
Missing info

[BobCardone]

With basswood in this scale it works well and is quick and easy. There are a LOT of nails, tho and with multiple passes it does take some time. If you want to get rid of the pencil shine, just spray with dullcote or a equivalent matte clear.

I really like the color combo you selected, it really sets a nice contrast and color balance. I used your technique on my deck planking and it makes a huge improvement. It's cool to have common builds and be able to share tips and tricks.

 

Edited February 21, 2020 by BobCardone
Add finish

[dzerbato]

There certainly are a lot of nails. I'll need to do the ceiling planking as well.

[dzerbato]

Just a small update. I've finished the 12lb carriage, and continued on the nails. They are not 100% historically accurate, but I like the look. I've been able to drill a number of the holes in the hull for various eye bolts and ring bolts as well. 

 

 

 

[BobCardone]

 

good progress, I like the contrast between the ceilingwork and the hull. When you do the cannonball racks by the 12 pounder, be very careful. Even with delicate handling, mine broke in two places and were a real pain to repair. If I could do it over, I'd scratchbuild some more substantial ones... (I still may do that).

Again, I'm enjoying your build log.

[dzerbato]

The nails continue, lol. As I'm preparing to start the gun rigging, I thought it would be good to show the kit blocks compared to the blocks I purchased from Syren. These are double blocks and made from the "kits" Chuck sells. I assembled the kits and they went together very easily. I then used a sanding stick to shape them. Each block took a 3-4 minutes to shape. I am waiting on a block tumbler to expedite things a bit for other builds. Now, to be fair, the kit instructions do recommend to shape the blocks a bit which I have not done. Anyways, here's a pic. I am certainly impressed with the Syren blocks, particularly at this scale, they really do make a huge difference. 

 

[dzerbato]

I now have the lower dead eyes completed, the mast partner installed, finished the haus holes, and have finished the exterior nails. The haus holes were done with 3/16 brass tube and the supplied kit photo etch pieces, painted a light grey. The lower dead eyes were not very complicated to assemble, but I did have some issues with some of the planking chipping as I drilled them, despite using a pin vise. I did have a minor issue with the location of the lower dead eyes compared to the mast partner. The dead eyes are located via a template provided by the plans. Given the location, I actually move the one closer to the mast partner in about another 1/16" as I was concerned about them fitting properly. The mast partner is located via a jig made from laser cut pieces. Of course, despite this, the mast partner still encroached on them slightly, but at least is located properly. For me, this isn't a huge deal because the dead eyes will still work fine, and the mast partner is properly located. However, if I did not move the one hole 1/16" closer, it would have been a much bigger deal and I would not have been able to install the mast partner in the right location. I don't know what caused this problem, as I haven't seen it raised in other logs. I thought I would raise it now in case anybody else has this problem, or at least to be aware of its potential.

 

[BobCardone]

Looking really nice! I like the Syren blocks, much more realistic than the kit ones. I also found the templates somewhat off when mounting the hardware for the cannons. I haven't fixed the mast partner or drilled for the lower deadeyes yet on my build, after seeing the issues you had I'll take them into account. Thanks for pointing this out!

 

BobC

 

[dzerbato]

Hopefully it helps your build, you're doing a fantastic job.