Pride of Baltimore II by Brewerpaul - Model Shipways - 1/64

[Brewerpaul]

55 minutes ago, glbarlow said:

There needs to be a false deck on top of the bulkheads and then the deck planks applied to that, not the plank applied directly to the bulkhead.  If one is missing from the kit I'd highly advise you to get some 1/16 basswood and cut one yourself.

 

Very cool about helping with the restoration.

A false deck would raise deck above the sheerplank I think. Is the false deck to keep the planks even and make it unnecessary to end the joins at the bulkheads?

[glbarlow]

Yes, it provides a solid surface for gluing planking and to prevent warping or twisting, I've never seen a model without one (other than elaborate plank on frame models of course)- even 1/32 would work.

[David Lester]

Hi Paul,

Many of the Model Shipways kits just call for putting the planks directly on the bulkheads. As I recall that never caused me too much trouble, but it can be a bit tricky keeping it smooth and level and it certainly can cause problems with your planking pattern as you don't necessarily want your planks always ending on a bulkhead. For my POB, I chose to use a solid subdeck first. It gives a really nice smooth flat surface to plank on and you can easily place the plank joints wherever your pattern calls for. However, as you mentioned, thickness is a concern on the POB. The planking is 1/16" thick and it you add a subdeck, you will probably be too high. I ordered a 1mm sheet to make the subdeck and .5mm strips to use for the planks which worked out about just right. Together they are just under 1/16". The .5mm planking from Cornwall Model Boats is quite inexpensive so I ordered a ton of it. I ordered both 3mm and 5mm widths. I bought both their cherry and tanganyka. I wasn't sure which colour I would prefer, but when it came the two were indistinguishable. It finished really nicely, but I had to be careful sanding, it's easy to go right through!

 

I like the colour of your hull.

David

[glbarlow]

The bulkheads on this model aren’t close. You’ll face the possibility of a wavy deck without the false deck. I doubt 1/32 or even. 1/16th would make a difference. I think we established you have a different POB than mine. I’m quite sure mine has a false deck. Your choice though, it’s your model. I can only offer my experience as suggestions

[Brewerpaul]

Thanks for the food for thought.

Glenn-- if we have different kits, what was yours? The one I have is the only one I've seen,

Offhand, my bulkheads don't look bad having laid a half dozen or so deck planks down on them. They seemed pretty level. I'm thinking that maybe I'll make a dummy subdeck out of file folder material,temporarily glue it down with tiny drops of CA, and see how flat it looks.

If it looks flat enough, I could use David's suggestion of a 1mm subdeck and .5mm planks. Cornwall has Cherry strips, and I love the look of Cherry so I'd probably use that even if it's not authentic. Hmmm...cherry top rails would look good too.  I'll have to spend some time on the Cornwall site and look for other goodies, and order if the shipping from the UK isn't too ridiculous.

I just had a though on how to cheat on the transom lettering...hang the ship's boat from the stern on davits and cover the transom 😄

Again, I'm not looking for a totally accurate POB, mainly I want a decent looking representation of a Baltimore clipper of the period.

[Gregory]

You might consider planking the deck off the model on card stock, or your file folder stock.

 

I do it on tracing paper, but this is when there is a false deck in place.

 

My quarterdeck..

 

[Brewerpaul]

Gregory-- you mean you construct the entire deck off the ship and then just glue it down? How do you bend nibbing planks without butting them up against the planksheer? I had speculated on building the deck off the model, but several people advised against it.

Update a few minutes later; I just looked at your quarterdeck and answered my own question about nibbing.

[Gregory]

I see you answered your question, but keep in mind, you can do as much or little as you see fit.

 

While my decking would not survive a test of realistic accuracy, I got everything as close as I could within a mm or so, then used the waterway to fill any gap.

 

P.S.

 

Let me add one more thing.

 

When I glued my off the deck planking onto the false deck, I used yellow glue.  I had to take few minutes of smoothing and pressure with my fingers until the glue started setting up,

which it did pretty fast - 5-10 minutes

[Brewerpaul]

On 9/16/2020 at 3:03 PM, David Lester said:

I like the colour of your hull.

David

Lowe's finest, despite some recommentations against using wall paint. I can supply the exact color for any builders who might want to go that route.

[Brewerpaul]

I think I solved the out of whack mainmast problem. While fiddling around with the tenon on the mast, one of the plywood scrap pieces that the former kit owner had glued delaminated so I had to remove the rest of it for replacement. What I found was excess glue from his work inside the remaining scrap piece, enough to shift the foot of the mast and account for the out of whackedness. I temporarily snugged up my somewhat loose tenon with paper and with a new piece of scrap wood (not plywood) the mast looks pretty darn close and should be shimmable to vertical.

Went down to Baltimore yesterday and picked up the real POB bench which I'll be redoing. I also got a short tour under the shrinkwrap of the ship which was wonderful and gave me a much greater perspective on the scale of the model. I also got a good look at that pesky transom area from inside the ship. That's the jib boom lying on the deck. The other spars are offsite at their spar shop.

 

[Brewerpaul]

I got the planking installed and stained,Minwax Golden Oak (which I had lying around from an old project). No subdeck, but the planks laid out pretty well with a 3 plank repeat. The first coat of stain revealed spots where glue didn't allow it to take, but I expected that. Sanded and scraped* those down, and the second stain came out pretty even, so I'll quit while I'm ahead. I'll give it a day or two for the stain to fully dry, then poly coat it. BTW-- I didn't bother darkening the edges of the planks, figuring that stain would accumulate there and make the joints visible,which seems to have worked.

*I'd used cabinet scrapers before on other projects and obtained a wonderful surface but mine were too big for this model. I found a set of small ones on Amazon and they worked very well on the deck.

My visit to the real Pride showed me that the stern knees are mahogany color, but the plans show them painted the cream of the inner bulwarks. Not sure if I want to try to fix that at this point.

Next up is the hawse timbers and I'm finding the plans and picture in the instructions a bit confusing. In one place it looks like the larger timber is on top, in another on the bottom.  At the bow, they just need to be far apart for the bowsprit to fit through,right?  They won't show much once the bulwarks are planked so I won't fret it too much. I'm planning on putting an oversized cap on the timbers which I can sand down as needed when I install the top rail.

I'm noticing more and more little things like ringbolts, bits,etc, that would be hard to install when the bulwarks are finished and deck items in place. I'm planning on marking as many as I can find on the plans with a yellow highlighter and install them as soon as possible.
As always, comments and suggestions most welcomed!

 

[BobG]

Just got caught up on your build and she's looking great! I have this model on the shelf. It was the first model I was really attracted to. I'm sure I'll be referencing your build when I get around to building the POB.

[Brewerpaul]

On 10/15/2020 at 2:54 PM, BobG said:

Just got caught up on your build and she's looking great! I have this model on the shelf. It was the first model I was really attracted to. I'm sure I'll be referencing your build when I get around to building the POB.

Thanks Bob-- be sure to post a log when you start yours. I'd love to follow it.

 

I fashioned and installed the hawse timbers yesterday and have found it be a big pain trying to drill the hawse holes.  They run from up to down, port to starboard, and fore to aft.  I took my best shot with a 1mm drilled pilot hole but missed the mark. Any good ideas how to do this accurately? I've enlarged the holes with successively larger drills and they're moderately out of whack. My plan for now is to reshape and relocate the holes with small round diamond files, then repair the surrounding damage with filler.

[Brewerpaul]

Adjusted the hawse holes last night. I expanded the out of whack holes with twist drill bits, turned by hand without a drill. Once I had them large enough to fit a Dremel side cutting bit I inserted small pieces of dowel of the right size so I could visualize how much out of whack they were and in what directions. Pulled out the dowels and used the Dremel bit to manhandle the holes into shape. That done, I coated the dowels with beeswax for anti stick properties, put them back into the holes at the appropriate angles, then filled the gaps with wood filler. All in all they look pretty good. I think I'll paint the inside of the holes black which will make the irregularities the same color as the hull.

[Brewerpaul]

I've assembled the individual sections of the bulwarks off the ship. Before I install them I plan on sanding/scraping them,painting them, and adding any eyebolts,cleats etc  which will be easier than trying to sneak them in once masts,spars and rigging are in the way. I'll paint them too.

 

The bulkheads look good but that last section where they meet the transom are posing a problem. That stern has been a challenge from the start. The transom is painted (not lettered yet) but not attached. I wanted to see how it would line up with the transom knees and bulwarks. If I place the transom so the bottom edge is where it should be, the top edge is below the top of those knees and the bulwarks are too low. If I drop the transom down so it's the correct height for the bulwarks, it no longer fits at the sides, which taper.

I'm guessing these discrepancies go all the way back to the shaping of my stern fillers, but that's water under the keel now. I could put the transom where it belongs, trim the top of the stern knees and then build the bulwarks up with a tapering extra part. In one of my pictures,you can see a piece of 1/16" timber to simulate the top rail. Or, I could scrap my pretty transom and make a new one to conform with the bulwark height. That would mean trimming those stern knees even more.

Any suggestions?

[glbarlow]

I’d say it’s unusual to build the bulwarks off the ship. Sterns varying from model to model for the same kit is typical. I’d build the bulwarks to the height it needs to be to fit the ship and in this case the transom. It may require trimming some planks to create the necessary height.  

[Brewerpaul]

I took the real Pride of Baltimore II's bench back to it's home yesterday. I asked the guy in charge to please let me know when they remove the shrinkwrap and start to refit the ship in the spring. I'd love to go down from time to time and help. He told me the process takes about 3 weeks.

I know it's unusual to build the bulwarks off the ship, but I felt that this model lent itself to doing it that way, and would let me do the planking much more easily,which it did.

 

[David Lester]

Paul, I built the bulwarks in sections off the model as well. For some reason it seems to be a good method for this particular model.

David

[Brewerpaul]

On 11/1/2020 at 8:49 AM, David Lester said:

Paul, I built the bulwarks in sections off the model as well. For some reason it seems to be a good method for this particular model.

David

Your build is where I got the idea. Those 4 or 5 stanchion sections seemed to make sense off the hull. Plus, all those tiny, loose fittings seemed to be crazy hard to get lined up right.

[Dr PR]

Hi Paul,

 

It's been a while since I visited your build. You asked a couple of questions, and it looks like you solved the problems nicely.

 

Like you, I have planked directly on bulkheads. They often are not all the correct height. I use a strip of planking to find the low ones and add a bit of wood to the top. When they are all about the correct height I use a long sanding block to make final corrections. Then the planks go down in a smooth deck.

 

I envy you having the real thing to visit while you build your model.

[Brewerpaul]

Well, it's taken me forever to get the bulwarks made and installed. I'm glad I built them off the model as painting them neatly was easy,no overrun on the planksheer,  and it was easy to add cleats and eyebolts.  I can't imagine how I'd drill holes for those once the bulkheads were glued. Those cleats look considerably over scale and a couple ended up touching the planksheer, so I'll have to figure out how to trim them for rigging. The plans call for them to be stark white, but I thought that would look odd on the cream inboard sides of the bulwarks. I just filed them clean and left them metal colored which looks like galvanized steel. Not historically accurate, but I'm OK with that.

That darned stern was a concern from day one. The guy I bought the partially started kit had indeed cut the stern filler blocks down too thin and as I result I had no room for the correct POB stern. At this point I've decided to build the ship as a sort of generic Baltimore Clipper,not the actual POBII, so I made a transom to fit. This did not leave much room for lettering more than a single line, so I named my ship for The Admiral who is indeed fair.

I also decided not to mount the ship on the building ways, but on a plank with pillars. It occurred to me that a fully built ship wouldn't be on building ways,right? They'd launch the hull and work on her in the water. At the place where I get hardwoods for the Irish Penny Whistles I make, I came across a spectacular piece of Canarywood just the right size so that made the decision for me. I was still working on the Pride of Baltimore bench refinishing job, so I snitched a few brushfulls of the actual POB spar varnish to finish my base.

The toprail heights were off as compared to my jerry rigged transom, so I just put a step up at the stern. Not actual, but kind of interesting looking.

The ship isn't glued to the base posts, and I'll return it to my work stand once I've touched up the hull paint etc.

[Brewerpaul]

Wow-- it's been too long since I updated. OTOH, I haven't accomplished a huge amount in the interim. Not for lack of trying. This stuff takes a LONG time. Things that look like they'd be really easy on the plan end up being whole projects unto themselves, especially for a newbie.

As one other builder did, I decided to mount the cannons in the stowed position against the bulwarks. This was mainly because I didn't want to tackle (no pun intended) all the blocks and cordage that these tiny guns would require. I glued all the gun ports shut, which I think makes for a cleaner look from the side.

I've partially made the bowsprit and jib boom so I could determine the position of the Samson Posts and winch. Those are not glued yet. The winch, Samson Posts,  were a couple of those little details that ended up taking up a long time fabricating and finishing. Ditto for the pin rail forward of the mast. Drilling those holes without splitting the rail was a big problem. I ended up using bigger timber than called for but I think that's less objectionable than a broken rail with pins all over the place. Similar difficulties with the fife rail aft of the mast.  They're not museum quality, but I'm happy enough. The foc'sle hatch was comparatively simple.

I replaced the crew berthing galley with a grated hatch for the simple reason that I love the look of those. These are laser cut walnut from Model Expo. I'll have a second one further aft.

On a related note, for fans of the Pride of Baltimore II-- every Saturday at 9:00 they host Coffee With The Captain on their Facebook page. They discuss a great number of Pride related topics, and any fan of wooden sailing ships would enjoy this. They are currently uprigging the ship after her year long hiatus under wraps, so it's particularly interesting. Older broadcasts are still available. The Pride IS planning on sailing this summer and you can be sure I'm planning on getting aboard!

 

 

[Brewerpaul]

Update. My progress has been slow,but although my work isn't up to the level of some other builds, I'm pretty happy with my ship.

The picture shows her as of last night. Some things are glued down, others such as the rails around the masts, ships boat etc which might get in the way of future work are not. That the aft cabin is unattached and has more things to be added.

You'll note that the foremast channels are not in place. I only recently noted that the port channel was not parallel to the mainmast channel, too much to tolerate. I broke it loose and it's a good thing I did for another reason. I had installed it backwards with the aft end forward and vice versa. This meant that the deadeye spacing would not match that of the starboard channel and would have been VERY obvious once I started adding shrouds 🥶. I ended up taking both channels off and reworking them so they're both correct (I think). I reinstalled them after I took this picture.

Other Pride of Baltimore II news-- my wife and I will be sailing on her as guest crew for a two overnight cruise!! It's been a lifelong dream of mine to sail on a tall ship, and I'm more eager than you can imagine. I'll take many pictures, so if anyone wants views of any particular parts of the ship, let me know. This will be at the end of June,starting on my birthday.

[townpiper]

Greetings Paul

I understand that you've sailed on her.

I'm stumped about rigging the peak and throat halliards on the gaffs.

The MSW plans show a treble block on a pendant around the mast with ropes extending from either side. Rigging the blocks is not the problem...it's the two ropes on the sides: why are they thereand how do they attach to the block...also where do  they belay?

Can you give me some guidance here?

 Thanks and fair winds to ya.

Happy New Year...it's gotta be better than 2021...

Cheers 

Paul Thompson aka townpiper.