Pride of Baltimore II by Tony Dee - Model Shipways - 1:64

[Tony Dee]

Hello all. I am about to embark on the build of the pride of Baltimore II. This will be my first attempt at ship modeling and plan on taking it step by step. I will be using the Bob Hunt practicum and refer to it throughout the build.

 

I chose this ship since my daughter lives in Baltimore and I actually saw it in person and fell in love with it.

 

Wish me luck. I’m going to need it.

 

Sincerely

Tony

[GrandpaPhil]

Enjoy!

[Tony Dee]

Step 1. I  received the kit the other day and was extremely excited. I purchased all of the tools that I was missing and organized them in my shop. Here we go.

 

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by Tony Dee

[Tony Dee]

Step 2. Did an initial inventory of the box and organized and marked the sizes of each dowel and strip. I figured it would be easier later on with everything pre marked

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2020 by Tony Dee

[Tony Dee]

Step 3. Hull prep and bearding 

 

Template transferred to hull from plans. I was luck they actually gave me two copies of page 1 of the plans so I cut the bearding template right from the plan.

 

 

 

My first bearding of the hull. A bit challenging but took my time. I think it looks ok

 

 

 

 

One thing I did notice. Basswod is very chippy. As I was chiseling and cutting it was shredding. I couldn’t get the area perfectly smooth but since it will be covered with planking I am thinking it will be ok. It’s the rabbet that counts so the planking sits flush. Is that right ?

Edited April 27, 2020 by Tony Dee

[MEDDO]

Great start.  I love the POBII.  Basswood is sometimes a bit difficult to deal with but you are correct it is going to be covered up and if you have enough for the rabbit it should be ok

[Tony Dee]

Today’s activities are to wait for the keel to dry and begin preparing the bulkheads. Will most likely give the keel a full 24 hours of dry time and then dry fit the bulkheads.  I now see how the rabbet works. I used a small piece of planking to test it and it lies flush with he keel.
 

 

Edited April 27, 2020 by Tony Dee

[Tony Dee]

Ok so cutting the bulkhead from the sheet turned out to be an all day chore. The laser didn’t go all the way through so I cut each one individually. If that wasn’t enough the fit of the bulkheads is so tight they don’t got all the way down even with the deck. I meticulously was able to file 7 of them which made them fit evenly albeit very tight. I guess that will be good when it comes time to gluing and squaring them up.

 

I marked the hull and measured out the waterline. Calling it a day. I have 6 more bulkheads to fit tomorrow before I begin assembling.

 

If anyone sees this, do the bulkheads usually fit his tight.? 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by Tony Dee

[Tony Dee]

Spent a few hours dry fitting and ultimately gluing the bulkheads in place. They had a very snug fit and during my first test fit didn’t even allow me to put them in place. After several hours of slow sanding and filing I was able to get all bulkheads in place for a good test fit.

 

The waterline matched each perfectly and I felt good about gluing the, in place. 
 

 

 

During the process I broke off a small piece on the bow and a very narrow piece where the masts fit. I will glue them on once everything dries over the next day.

 

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by Tony Dee

[jwvolz]

Every Model Shipways kit I've built has had very tight fitting bulkheads, so nothing unusual there. Good work so far. 

[Tony Dee]

9 hours ago, jwvolz said:

Every Model Shipways kit I've built has had very tight fitting bulkheads, so nothing unusual there. Good work so far. 

Thanks Joe. I was wondering. Good to know. Going to work on the stern fillers tomorrow but needed to order a coping saw since mine broke. 

[Tony Dee]

Spent today creating the filler blocks in the bow and stern. A lot of carving and sanding but I’m pleased with how it came out. I will finish the shaping when I begin fairing the bulkheads.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2020 by Tony Dee

[Tony Dee]

Bow filler blocks as recommended by Bob Hunts Practicum.  This gave me practice shaping a block of wood which I haven’t done in years. 

 

I plan on starting to fair the bulkheads tomorrow as well as sanding the deck. Hopefully will get the burns marks off during this process as well. If anyone has tips for fairing please do let me know.

 

Thanks

Tony

Edited May 2, 2020 by Tony Dee

[Tony Dee]

Any thoughts on using a Dremel to fair the bulkheads?

[jwvolz]

21 minutes ago, Tony Dee said:

Any thoughts on using a Dremel to fair the bulkheads?

I do it that way. Especially helpful on the rock-hard plywood Model Expo uses. Do most of it before you install them on the false keel and finish with sanding blocks once installed. 

[Tony Dee]

11 minutes ago, jwvolz said:

I do it that way. Especially helpful on the rock-hard plywood Model Expo uses. Do most of it before you install them on the false keel and finish with sanding blocks once installed. 

Joe

 

Ok will try it. Unfortunately bulkhead already glued in so I will take it one at a time.

 

Tomy

[Tony Dee]

Spent several hours today working on the plank sheer. I was able to put the first plank below it (not sure exactly what the official name is) and will spend tomorrow working on the 3 wale planks. I took @David Lesteradvice from his build log and pre painted so that I could have a neat line between the black and yellow. Of course the inner part of the plank sheer will eventually be red so hopefully I did this correctly. 
 

I did get some super glue on the pain so I will have to touch it up. This is my very first model ship so hopefully I am making the right progress and haven’t messed anything up for the future build out lol. 
 

I also have to fair the bulk heads more but will do this once the wale planks are done. They seem to fit nicely without any bows or bumps. 
 

 

 

I do have a question. Should I spend the time getting the burn marks completely off? I know they won’t be seen once the planking starts. What is the right way to do this?
 

Thanks for any assistance 

 

Have a pleasant evening.

 

Tony

Edited May 5, 2020 by Tony Dee

[GrandpaPhil]

That’s up to you.  I personally don’t worry about laser char on internal parts, but it’s a matter of personal choice.

[Tony Dee]

58 minutes ago, GrandpaPhil said:

That’s up to you.  I personally don’t worry about laser char on internal parts, but it’s a matter of personal choice.

Thanks for the response Grandpa Phil. Much appreciated. I didn't know if there was a standard or not. I'm not going to waste my time on the internal char

 

Tony

[BobG]

16 hours ago, Tony Dee said:

Should I spend the time getting the burn marks completely off?

I have found that sanding off the laser char is only really necessary on those surfaces you want to finish as the natural, bare wood. You will see conflicting opinions about whether the laser char should be sanded off of surfaces that will eventually be glued but, I followed Chuck's advice, and found that it wasn't necessary. I tried a test where I glued a few scraps together with the glue applied to surfaces with and without the laser char and they both made strong bonds. 

 

Some model kits have terrible laser cutting where the char is extremely heavy and the cutting is uneven. I will sand those surfaces very lightly just so I can get a flat seal between the glued pieces. Be careful to keep the edges square when sanding the char off any flat edges. It's easy to round them somewhat and then you end up with gaps when you glue your pieces together. 

[Tony Dee]

11 minutes ago, BobG said:

I have found that sanding off the laser char is only really necessary on those surfaces you want to finish as the natural, bare wood. You will see conflicting opinions about whether the laser char should be sanded off of surfaces that will eventually be glued but, I followed Chuck's advice, and found that it wasn't necessary. I tried a test where I glued a few scraps together with the glue applied to surfaces with and without the laser char and they both made strong bonds. 

 

Some model kits have terrible laser cutting where the char is extremely heavy and the cutting is uneven. I will sand those surfaces very lightly just so I can get a flat seal between the glued pieces. Be careful to keep the edges square when sanding the char off any flat edges. It's easy to round them somewhat and then you end up with gaps when you glue your pieces together. 

Thanks very much Bob. I appreciate the insight.

 

Tony

[MEDDO]

For the flat sections of the deck probably not necessary but you definitely need to fair the bow and stern frame so you can get a nice positive gluing surface.  Most of that char will have to be removed to get those forward and aft frame ready to plank but otherwise as long as there is not any stress the char will probably glue just fine.  

 

Page 9 of this article will show what I mean. 

 

[Tony Dee]

5 minutes ago, MEDDO said:

For the flat sections of the deck probably not necessary but you definitely need to fair the bow and stern frame so you can get a nice positive gluing surface.  Most of that char will have to be removed to get those forward and aft frame ready to plank but otherwise as long as there is not any stress the char will probably glue just fine.  

 

Page 9 of this article will show what I mean. 

 

Michael

Thanks. That’s my next step. I’ve read the article you attached about 20x because I don’t want to mess up. Should I just use sandpaper or should I use a dremel or a file

 

Tony

[MEDDO]

Personally some may be able to control a power tool for this but it always seems to get away from from me so I always prefer to just use sandpaper and/or sanding sticks

[Tony Dee]

Today’s activities were fun. First order of business was to make a patch for the plank sheer that was short. Apparently everyone who built this had the same issue. I was hoping model shipways would have corrected it by now but nope, same thing lol

 

 

 

 

  The picture above shows the patch that I created. I beveled it so it matched the rest of the plank sheers shape.  It then went on and installed the wale planks. This was not as bad as I thought . I also put on a coat of primer and painted them so I can have a crisp delineation between the black and the yellow. I’m sure I will have to freshen it up later but at least I got a first coat on.
 

 

if I have time tomorrow I will finish fairing the bulkheads in preparation for planking over the weekend. Supposed to be a washout on Saturday so what better activity than to work on my model. 
 

Hopefully the wife will understand 😳

 

Thanks to everyone who has responded to my log so far. I know it’s about to get tougher and will look to the more experienced modelers to help me throughout this process.

 

Tony

Edited May 5, 2020 by Tony Dee

[Javlin]

I am about were you are at and watching I got terrified of the planking may you give me some courage! Kevin

Edited May 9, 2020 by Javlin

[Vladimir_Wairoa]

Hello, looking forward to your progress with this ship. gool luck . Vlad

[Tony Dee]

Ok so I am about to start planking. I marked the hull and put my first plank on using CA. Unfortunately i now need to remove it because i'm not happy. I ordered debonder. Will this help unbond it? I sure do hope so. Any advice for removing a plank?

[BobG]

The debonder will work. It's a bit messy. Give it a little bit of time to soak in where you want it to go and then use something like an a sharp Xacto knife blade to gently help pry the plank away from the spots where it is glued to the bulkheads. After the plank is off you can clean up the bulkheads with some very fine sanding if necessary being careful not to change the fairing. Wait until all the bulkheads are completely dry before applying another plank.  It's good to always have the debonder available for ungluing your fingers too. Believe me, it will happen! 

[Toolman]

Looking good.  Following along.  I'm planning on the POB lI as well. Made an offer on one on eBay.  Hopefully I will win.