Medway Longboat 1742 - 1/2" scale - by BobG - FINISHED

[Chuck]

That looks very good.  You are carefully planning and proceeding in a step by step Fashion.   Bravo!   That is the way to do it and it looks great.

[Diver]

Hello Bob.  Your build is excellent.  I am hoping to achieve similar results with my own build.  We to are in isolation up here in Canada so I should have more build time.  We are jealous of your weather, I still have snow on the ground and my son rubs it in.  He and his wife live in Grass Valley Cal.  Have a good day

[BobG]

Thanks everyone for the likes and thank you Chuck and Diver for your kind compliments. I feel like this model is taking me to a new level of modeling.

 

 

[BobG]

2 hours ago, Diver said:

We to are in isolation up here in Canada so I should have more build time.  We are jealous of your weather, I still have snow on the ground and my son rubs it in.  He and his wife live in Grass Valley Cal.  Have a good day

Grass Valley is a beautiful place. We have some good friends who live there and were just up visiting them right before all hell broke loose in the world. We have taken some long road trips to Canada visiting Vancouver Island, the Canadian Rockies, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. So much land and so few people! I am always taken aback when I think about California with a population that is larger than all of Canada. 

 

Stay safe and well and enjoy your time in the model shipyard.

[BobG]

Every model seems to have a few things that can be tricky to complete and get it done well and the installation of the bowsprit was one of those for me today. Getting the bowsprit aligned properly so it is straight when viewed from the bow along with the slight upward angle...just a little but not too much was challenging. The holes that you drill need to be spot on or it won't line up right and it will be crooked or the angle will be wrong. 

 

I cut the support that goes through the hole in the bow thwart to the correct length and then I made the small support that is to be nailed through a hole to the stem and also has a tiny pin that goes into the bowsprit at an angle. I simulated the iron bands with black masking tape and brushed them with Rusty Brown Weathering Powder.

 

Cutting the hole through the small brass support rod was tough. After 20 minutes and one broken drill bit I finally got through the 1/16" bar. Then I did a dry run. I set the bowsprit with the main support bar attached to it through the thwart and held the bowsprit down against the cap rail at the angle I wanted and lined up the small bow support to locate where the hole needed to be drilled into the bowsprit at an angle. Then I marked the spot where the hole needed to be drilled into the stem. I blackened both of the brass supports plus one tiny nail that I had cut off which is to be used to hold the small support bar to the stem. Finally, I drilled the two holes: one into the bowsprit and one into stem.

 

Everything seemed to line up pretty well during my dry run with both supports in place so I glued the main support rod into the bowsprit and placed it through the thwart but I didn't glue it yet to the bow floorboards where the foot comes to rest. I wanted to be able to move it a little when lining up the bowsprit along with the stem support rod. Holding it where I wanted it, I glued the small support into the bowsprit. However, now the cut off nail wasn't lining up correctly with the hole in the stem and it wouldn't go all the way in without pushing the bowsprit out of alignment a little bit.

 

So I decided to simply glue the the small support rod to the stem. Then I cut the tiny nail even shorter and glued it into the hole which goes through the small support rod. So it is actually just simulating a nail that goes all the way through it. It looks good and I'm happy with it.

 

The Jax Blackening Agent gave me fits again by flaking off and exposing the brass in places so I ended up painting the rods with Vallejo Black Acrylic and then using Doc O'Brien's Rusty Brown Weathering Powder to make them look like metal. They turned out pretty good.

 

So the bowsprit in in place and I'm happy with how it turned out. Tomorrow I hope to work on the traveler ring and begin rigging the bowsprit lines.

 

 

 

Edited March 27, 2020 by BobG

[BobG]

I really enjoy making the small metal and wire parts so I had fun today forming the traveler ring, the hook and the shakle for the bowsprit and rigging the jib halliard and the outhaul. The rigging really makes this boat so cool!

 

I think I'm done with Jax Blackening Agent because, no matter what I do to clean the brass and follow the directions, the black coating rubs off when the brass piece is handled. I ended up painting the traveler ring with Vallejo Black Acrylic paint and weathering it with Doc O'Briens's Rusty Brown Weathering Powder.

 

 

 

[EricWilliamMarshall]

I feel for your frustrations but from here, I just see beautiful work!

[BobG]

47 minutes ago, EricWilliamMarshall said:

I feel for your frustrations but from here, I just see beautiful work!

Thanks very much, Eric. 

 

The only thing that was frustrating today was using the Jax Blackening Agent. I spent quite a bit of time blackening the brass only to have it flake off. I'm not sure why it keeps doing this and I have tried several ways of cleaning the brass and applying the blackening solution. Other than that, I had a lot of fun today and the finish line is in sight!

[BobCardone]

Really fine craftsmanship on the woodwork, and your rigging is looking great! You have an excellent eye for detail and She's going to be a real stunner when completed!

BTW, you have a nice view of a beautiful yard outside the window over your build bench... Very calming and serene...

[BobG]

9 hours ago, BobCardone said:

Really fine craftsmanship on the woodwork, and your rigging is looking great! You have an excellent eye for detail and She's going to be a real stunner when completed!

BTW, you have a nice view of a beautiful yard outside the window over your build bench... Very calming and serene...

Thanks vey much, Bob. I really love my workspace with a view of our backyard although it's just a small work table from IKEA with a 5 drawer filing cabinet for tool storage. I have a portable, SONOS bluetooth speaker in the room and I stream music on Spotify while I work...a lot of jazz and a whole lot from the every-changing, eclectic playlist of Radio Paradise. 

 

We live in an older house, built in 1942, near downtown Sacramento. It's a typical, smaller home of that era but, back then, families raised 2 or 3 kids in 2 bedroom one bath homes. We love the older neighborhoods in Sacramento with all of their mature trees and parks. Sacramento is a designated national tree city and the density of trees is very much valued for shade during our hot, dry summers. 

 

My wife and I enjoy landscaping and gardening and, even though our property is not very big, we've made it into a very nice little oasis for us. Over the years we've remodeled the house and have completely redone all of the landscaping including planting 15 trees: 3 birches, 4 flowering cherries, two maples, 4 Japanese maples, a dogwood and a dwarf flowering crabapple. We also have 3 very large, flowering camellias and many flowering shrubs like azaleas, dwarf crepe myrtles, gardenias and others, plus perennial flowers and many potted plants and succulents. It keeps us busy and something is nearly always blooming.

 

I have relatives who live near you in Florida. My brother lives in Largo and my nephew lives in Dunedin. They are both into gardening too.

 

I really enjoy your build log and appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge with all of us on the forum.

 

Best regards,

 

 

Edited March 30, 2020 by BobG

[Fright]

Bob - Holy Guacamole! Your Medway Longboat is absolutely stunning. The planking is so precise and clean. Great display of you talents and skills. Compliments to the chef on this one !!! 

 

[BobG]

....and the rigging continues... Today was rope coil day on my build. I secured the boom, peak halliard, throat halliard, and the jib halliard lines to the belaying pins and made rope coils for them. I also secured the forestay halliard to the mast thwart since no more belaying pins were open and made a rope coil for it. Then I secured the outhaul to the bow thwart and made a flat deck coil for that rope and I did the same for the main sheet line.

 

I always seem to underestimate how long a task in model ship building will take. I didn't think it would take be very long to secure the lines and make the rope coils but it was time consuming. It can be fiddly since there were so many shrouds and various lines to work around. I ended up using tweezers a lot. I took my time trying to make the coils look natural and not too perfect. I still have to make the coils for the backstay tackles. I also still have the flag to make and the flag halliards to rig and make coils for them plus I still need to make the grapnel too. 

 

I wasn't sure how to make the flat deck coils so here's what I ended up doing. I took a piece of blue painter's tape and laid the rope down in a circle on the sticky side of the tape while pinching it lightly with tweezers. I just kept coiling the the rope down starting from the outside and working towards the center. I left a bit of space in the center because I wanted a more natural look to the coils. Then I painted them with a thin coat of diluted white glue and let it set up for a few minutes before using an Xacto knife to lift the coil off the painter's tape before it got fully dry. It worked out pretty well.

 

Here's a photo of how I made the flat rope coils:

 

These are the coils I made for the lines secured to the belaying pins:

 

 

[BobG]

34 minutes ago, Fright said:

Bob - Holy Guacamole! Your Medway Longboat is absolutely stunning. The planking is so precise and clean. Great display of you talents and skills. Compliments to the chef on this one !!! 

 

Thank you so much, Robert. This model was a big step up for me and I have learned so much building it. This is my third build and the first two were much simpler models.

 

Chuck's instructions and all the build logs here have helped me immensely. The planking is already spiled so I can't take that much credit for how it looks. However, you still have to make precise bends with twists and be careful when gluing them on the hull. I broke a few along the way but was able to cut new ones when that happened. I think the quality of this kit makes me look more skilled that I actually am!

 

Your shrimp boat is magnificent!

[BobG]

Getting there...

 

Edited March 30, 2020 by BobG

[oneslim]

BobG,

 

Well done,  fine looking model.

 

BobW

[BobG]

Thanks everyone for the likes. I can barely believe that I am nearing the completion of this model. Still a ways to go but I can see the finish line.

 

I've notice that there have been a lot of build logs started but most of them have been inactive for quite a while. This model is such a beauty and so much fun to build that I wonder why so many builds seem to have stalled or maybe people just haven't posted their progress recently...? I would love to see how each of you are doing with your model and get some more conversation going on this group build. 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2020 by BobG

[BobG]

2 hours ago, oneslim said:

BobG,

 

Well done,  fine looking model.

 

BobW

Thanks BobW for your compliment. I've read your log and your model looks wonderful. Have you been able to make any progress on her lately?

[oneslim]

I have been working on the main sail,  hope to post soon.

 

BobW

[Ryland Craze]

Looking good Bob.  You are almost at the finish line.  I hope to post my progress soon.

[BobG]

6 minutes ago, Ryland Craze said:

Looking good Bob.  You are almost at the finish line.  I hope to post my progress soon.

I'm looking forward to seeing your work, Ryland. Your build looks great so far!

[BobG]

2 hours ago, oneslim said:

I have been working on the main sail,  hope to post soon.

 

BobW

That's good to hear. I'm very interested to seeing your sails. I've been thinking about how this model would look with full or furled sails. I don't think I've seen one posted yet.

[BobG]

I only had a little time to work on my longboat today. I was able to get the rope coils finished for the backstay tackles and I redid another coil that I wasn't happen with. It's really nice not to have a tangle of lines and alligator clips laying around in the boat now.

 

Edited March 31, 2020 by BobG

[BobG]

I made the flag today and rigged the flag halliards and made rope coils for them. I tried to make the flag look like there was a light breeze blowing...just enough to for it to look like it was wavering just a little. Chuck says he uses Kryon Matte Fixative to soak the tissue paper flag. I didn't have that but my wife had some Krylon Fine Art Fixative so I used that hoping that fixative is fixative! It took me a while to get close to the look that I wanted.

 

The flag is very delicate to work with and the fixative is a bit sticky so my fingers would stick a bit while I was shaping it. Be careful not to let the tissue paper fold onto itself when the fixative is tacky because the tissue will stick together. That happened to me a couple of times so I sprayed it again so it wouldn't tear when I separated the stuck tissue. I used various sizes of dowels to help shape it along with simply manipulating it with my fingers. I didn't like the look on the first two tries so I just soaked it again with more fixative and reworked it. I think it looks pretty good. It's fairly transparent and has a bit of a sheen to it when the light hits it at an angle. I don't know if that's typical or whether the fixative I used gave it a slight sheen.

 

Tomorrow I'll work on the grapnel and maybe get started on the display base.

 

Thanks for reading if you got this far...

 

 

 

Edited April 3, 2020 by BobG

[BobG]

I've rounded the final turn and am heading down the stretch. Here's how she's looking:

 

 

[MEDDO]

Looks great Bob

[BobG]

10 minutes ago, MEDDO said:

Looks great Bob

Thanks very much, Michael. 

[oneslim]

Bob,  That sure is a sweet build.  Are You going to use Chuck's base?

 

BobW

[BobG]

Thank you, Bob. Yes, I have Chuck's base. When I ordered the kit last year I had it him engrave it with my name and 2020. I knew I'd never finish it in 2019 and I figured having 2020 on it would motivate me to not set it aside at some point! I think it could look good on pedestals also. 

[BobG]

I made two grapnel anchors today. I believe that the small details add a lot to a model so I spent a little time refining them. I rounded the edges a bit before I painted them with Black Vallejo Acrylic paint and then weathered them lightly with Doc O'Brien's Rusty Brown Weathering Powder to make them look like metal. Then I made rings for them from 22 gauge black wire. I'll seize them with rope tomorrow.

 

This photo shows the difference before and after weathering the black paint on the anchors. The left anchor is just painted black and the right anchor has been weathered:

 

Here's they are both finished with the rings that I made for them: 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by BobG

[BobCardone]

On 4/2/2020 at 9:20 PM, BobG said:

I've rounded the final turn and am heading down the stretch. Here's how she's looking:

Wow, she's looking fit, trim and elegant! You have great skills and have done a fine job, I'm looking forward to your future projects. Any ideas yet?