Chaperon by patrickmil - Model Shipways - 1/48

[patrickmil]

Hello All,

 

It's been a while since I've posted anything on here. I last left off with lofty goals for the USS Constitution by Model Shipways. Well, you could say that life got in the way with job changes, family, pets, etc. But that wasn't it. My goals for the USS Constitution were fairly large goals and were a little over my skill set and eventually I lost the desire and inspiration to continue working on her. Since then, I've been putting together plastic model airplanes and tanks. My favorite so far has been between Tamiya's 1/32 Corsair and 1/32 Mosquito. All along though, I have been checking in here to see what others have been doing and I got the itch a couple of months ago while sitting (some call it working) at home. I decided that the Chaperon would be a nice reintroduction to scale ship modeling and better yet, was able to purchase the kit through Model Expo for a pretty reasonable $239.

 

I won't bore you all with the kit contents. Others have already shown off this kit much better than I ever could. I have made my start by gluing the keel parts and a single bulkhead on so far. Please bear with me as this will be slow going progress. While I don't mind recommendations and/or criticism, my goal here is not exact historical accuracy, but rather enjoying putting together a model ship again.

 

Here's the keel parts all glued together

And here's the first bulkhead glued on using a slab of granite for a perfectly flat surface and the age-old Lego squaring method

 

Thanks in advance for looking!

 

[Cathead]

Great choice, looking forward to following along.

 

In case you're interested, MSW user Kurt Van Dahm has a great digital guide to building this model that has a lot of useful tips and insights for this kit; I highly recommend it. Here's a link where he describes it and explains how to order.

[MEDDO]

Nice to see you back Patrick.  Nice subject will happily follow along

[patrickmil]

@Eric, I appreciate your following along. I've been reading enough of the other build logs from the likes of Mike Dowling, mbp521, and Brucealanevans for some ideas and tips that go out of the general scope of the instructions.

 

@Micheal, thanks for following along. I'm glad to be back with some inspiration.

 

@Jorge Hedges, thanks for your thumbs up!

 

I don't have an update yet as I'm still gluing on bulkheads. As I stated in my opening remark, this will be a slow going build. I do appreciate the commentary though!

[Cathead]

No worries, thought I'd mention it just in case.

[patrickmil]

Hello All,

 

First of all, I hope all of the Dads in the US had a good Father's Day weekend. Secondly, Thanks for the comments, views, and likes. I finally managed to get all of the bulkheads attached and am working on getting the stringers and fillers installed. I'm enjoying this kit immensely so far, albeit I haven't accomplished that much yet. Without further ado, here are the pictures of my progress.

 

An overall shot of the hull as it stands today.

 

A closer shot of the skeletal stern and the rear filler blocks

 

A picture of the bow waiting on filler blocks.

 

And finally, a close up picture of the bow filler blocks

 

Thanks in advance for looking in on my journey.

Patrick

 

 

 

[patrickmil]

Did I mention that this would be a slow build?

 

Thanks to all for the likes and views!

 

I got some planking done finally. The picture shows 6 planks on the starboard side and only four planks on the port side. I'm chugging along slowly but surely. I'm working carefully to bevel the planks where they butt up to other planks to ensure smooth planking and tight seams. I'm using the thumbtacks because with this build, I wanted to use only PVA and not CA glue.

 

[mbp521]

Patrick,

 

I just found your build. I completed this same kit just a couple of months ago. I’m definitely going to following along with great interest. 

 

-Brian

 

 

[patrickmil]

Hello All,

 

Wow! It's been over two weeks since I last posted on here. First things first; thanks to all for the likes, views, and comments. I'm glad to have you aboard on my build log, Brian! I've been checking your build log out along with others.

 

The planking on this kit is definitely easier than a typical, sea-faring, sailing vessel so I chose not to take pictures or comment on my planking progress. The only semi-challenging aspects of it were applying chamfers to plank edges and side-bending the planks for a better planking job that I've had in any of my past builds. I brushed PVA on the insides of the planks once I was done with the planking. Another day to cure properly and I can begin the rigorous sanding for a smooth hull. On to the pictures!

 

Port bow, definitely needs some sanding

 

Starboard bow, also needs some sanding

 

Aft, of course, some sanding required

 

Port aft, just showing off the planking as I'm pretty happy with how it turned out

 

Best I can do with an overall view, and again, some sanding definitely needed

 

Thanks to all in advance for looking in. I'm always open to comments, questions, and criticism.

[mbp521]

Patrick,

 

Coming along nicely. You are definitely right, this hull is so much easier to build and plank than the full rigged ships. 

 

-Brian

[patrickmil]

Good morning Model Ship World!

 

Thanks to all for looking in and for the likes!

 

Brian, one of these days I will be getting back to my Constitution by Model Shipways, but after finishing Niagara, it was just too much ship! I definitely appreciate your compliment.

 

Getting to the build and what I've been doing... I've been priming, sanding, filling in spots, sanding, priming again, filling fewer spots, sanding, priming again... I think you all get the general idea. I should have pics of a finished hull soon after a little more work. Needless to say, the filling and sanding routine has been tedious, but I'm almost there.

 

To help provide a modicum of variety in tasks, I decided to jump on the Chaperon's boiler. I built up the basic boiler, added tiny nails for the boiler door handles where I believe the coal would have been shoveled into, and finally added the white metal bits. I wasn't too impressed with the overall look of the wooden boiler, even before I primed and painted it. It just did not look "metal" enough. So I stripped off the white metal bits and came up with my own solution to give it that "metal" look since I believe these monsters were made from cast iron. I had some aluminum ducting tape that I cut into various size "plates" and strips and applied these using a soft wooden stick to burnish the foil down on the wooden boiler. Once I was satisfied with that I wanted to go a bit further and apply its "rivets". I tested using tiny drops of wood glue applied with a toothpick. After drying, I was very satisfied with the feel of these "rivets". Is this by any means accurate? I highly doubt it! Does it look better in my opinion? Resounding YES! Will anybody be able to see much of this once it's buried? I also doubt that. At least I will know.

 

Hopefully my pictures below will help explain what I did.

 

Testing of glue drops on some spare aluminum strips on scrap wood

 

Top, overall shot of boiler with beginnings of simulated cast iron plates

 

Front shot of boiler showing coal doors with handles

 

Another front shot of boiler covered in metal and glue droplets

 

Overall shot of boiler with metal and glue droplets

 

Next up should be more progress on the hull and the finished boiler after priming and painting.

 

As always, please let me know what you think, whether it's criticism or validating my half-cocked ideas.

 

Thanks all and stay safe!

 

 

[tarbrush]

Patrick,

your idea to use metal tape on the boiler looks perfect,  and I like the glue dots for rivet heads, how did you get them so uniform?

my Chaperon is still on backorder but I expect I will be starting mine in a month to six weeks.  

[patrickmil]

Hi John,

 

I appreciate your feedback! The glue dots were done using a piece of Tamiya tape with little tick marks and in some places done by eye after a glass (or two) of bourbon to steady my hand.

 

Thanks,

Patrick

[Cathead]

I think your approach captures the feel of the boiler nicely. At most I'd say the rivets are out of scale (too large), but this is minor. At times, I think over-sized details actually help enhance a model when they call attention to an interesting aspect. For example, the last time I made sails, I knew my bolt-rope stitching was out of scale but it looks nice from an artistic perspective and draws the eye to an interesting feature of the sails. So in this case, I think your boiler will look great when it's painted and in the shadows of the overhanging boiler deck. The consistent precision of the detail counts for a lot and the boiler looks nice.

[mbp521]

Patrick,

 

The boiler looks great!  I would venture to say that the boilers were riveted together, but I would have to defer that to the experts for confirmation. However, since many of the boilers in this time period were similarly constructed, I would say that it’s an accurate assumption, and I riveted the boiler on my Chaperon as well. 
 

I used a similar method for my boiler on my Cairo build. But instead of glue droplets I used a ponce wheel on the backside of the aluminum tape to form the rivets. I must say though, you did a great job on getting the glue droplets uniform. 
 

-Brian

[patrickmil]

Eric and Brian,

 

I really appreciate the positive reinforcement! Thanks for hanging in with me despite the snail's pace with this kit.

 

Thanks,

Patrick

[mbp521]

Patrick, 

 

We’re with you to the end. Pace is not important, as long as you enjoy the project, and these projects can take time. We are a patient bunch. Besides, you can’t rush perfection. 😁
 

-Brian

[patrickmil]

Hello to all! I hope everybody is staying safe and enjoying the remaining days of summer.

 

I want to thank everybody for taking the time to look in, comment, and/or hit the like button.

 

I finished painting the hull and my boiler and present the following pictures. I coated the boiler in primer to give the black paint better adherence and then used Tamiya weathering powders to provide a tiny bit of highlight to the rivets and seams and finally clear coated the whole thing. The hull has many coats of primer. I lost count after five. So as not to have such a stark white color, I used a shade of ivory instead of white. It looks more pleasing to my eyes.

 

Sorry for the picture quality. Besides only having my phone to take pictures, I also share my desk with work and other model kits.

 

The finished boiler

 

Overall shot of the hull bottom

 

Up front shot of the hull right-side-up

 

I hope you all like. Please feel free to let me know what you think!

 

Thanks,

Patrick

 

[Cathead]

Lovely! A light bit of rust here and there would tone down the "shiny new engine" look, but that depends on how you want the model to look overall (don't rust the engine if the rest will be crisp and unweathered).

[patrickmil]

Hi Eric,

 

Thanks for the compliment! As a matter of fact, I am going for a clean look. When it gets dusty, it makes it easier to know what stays and what has to be brushed off. 🤣

 

Thanks,

Patrick

[joep4567]

looks really nice to me!

 

[MEDDO]

Boiler looks great

[patrickmil]

Hi joep4567 (Joe?) and Michael! Thanks for looking in and the compliments!

 

Patrick

[mbp521]

Patrick,

 

Beautiful job on the boiler and hull. Smooth lines fine finish. Also looks like you are double-dipping with those F-4 parts under the hull. 😜

 

-Brian

[tarbrush]

beautiful work Patrick!  I love the texture that you got on the boiler.

[patrickmil]

@Brian, thanks for the compliment! I do like to maintain work on several items at a time. I've been collecting aftermarket pieces for some time for the 1/32 Tamiya F-4J to make a VF-84 Jolly Rogers bird.

 

@John, thanks for looking in and the compliment! I'm positive I'm not doing anything new, but am enjoying the process and sharing it.

[mbp521]

Not a bad idea Patrick working on multiple projects. Helps keep the mind fresh. When you get hung up on an issue with one, just switch to another until You can solve it. 
 

BTW: The F-4 Phantom is one of my favorite planes. Right up there with the P-40 Warhawk and F4U Corsair. 
 

-Brian

[MadDogMcQ]

OMG, I'm never going to get anything done due to keeping track of all these AMAZING builds on MSW. It makes me so excited to see all the great work done. Inspirational!

[Cathead]

Any further progress? I'd hate to see such a promising start get mothballed. Hope you'll let us know what you've been up to.

[patrickmil]

Hi Eric,

 

I appreciate you checking in! This project has not been mothballed but just intermittently stalled with COVID life. I'm about a third of the way done sizing, cutting, and planking the main deck. When I get more of that finished I'll be sure to post some pictures.

 

Thanks,

Patrick