18th Century Longboat by dcicero - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:48 - Tri-Club

[dcicero]

Thanks, Kurt!

 

Here's a question for everyone.  I've gotten to the point where I want to order the case for the model.  I know I want to have 2" of space all the way around.  (I've seen a lot of cases and that seems to be the amount of space that looks best.)

 

So to do that, I made a drawing and put the dimensions on it.

 

But here's my question.  How high should the pedestals be?  I started out thinking they should be about a third of the total.  So if the model is 8 - 3/4" high, then the pedestals should be about 4 - 3/8" for a total height of 13 - 1/8".  That seemed pretty high, so I recalculated at a quarter of the total.  That gave me pedestals 2.92" tall.  (Model = 8.75"; Total height = 11.67")  That sounds better and makes the case only about 14" tall (plus the thickness of the base).

 

 

Any other way I should be thinking of this?  Any rules of thumb you all go with?  I realize that this is a matter of choice to some extent.  I like the looks of the taller pedestals most have used, but I don't want to make them so long that the model looks like it's escaping from the base.

 

 

 

Dan

[Maury S]

Dan, Mine are 1.5". 

Maury

[dcicero]

I spent a little more time with the Longboat last night.

 

I decided on the height of the pedestals:  2.5".  I made this determination in a highly scientific manner.  I raised the model above the base -- with a ruler next to it -- until I liked how it looked.

 

So here's how it all worked out:

 

 

I deviated from the instructions a little bit by making the chainplates before I stepped the mast.  I followed the instructions pretty closely, except that I soldered everything rather than use CA glue.

 

Here's the super-complex jig, a brass nail with the head cut off.  You can see the scorch marks from the soldering iron and the measuring line to show where to bend the wire.

 

 

And here's a chainplate being made.  The in-process one is below the finished one to show how it all works out.

 

 

These are little things...

 

 

Here are all four.  They still need to be painted.

 

 

And then I stepped the mast.  It took a couple of attempts to get the mast step to look right.   I think this is pretty close.  Tonight I'm going to do a little more beveling on it.  It looks a little too blocky to me as it is.

 

I drilled a small hole in the bottom of the mast and a hole through the mast step.  I ran a wire through the mast step and into the bottom of the mast, giving me a little spike on the bottom of the whole assembly that helped me line everything up.  The mark made by the wire showed me where to drill the hole and step the mast.

 

 

And here's how the boat looks now.

 

 

The gaff and boom are completed.  I need to make the other two chainplates and then start rigging.  Also have to get a base for the case made.

 

Coming right along!

 

 

 

 

Dan

 

 

[dgbot]

Nicely done Dan your chain plate came out great.

 

David B

[gjdale]

Very nice Dan. I'm sure your plan for display (pedestals etc) will look fabulous.

[tlevine]

I see you used the same scientific method I did in determining the pedestal height!

[dcicero]

It's been a long time since I posted any progress on the longboat ... but that doesn't mean there hasn't been progress!  It's almost done.  I've found taking pictures at this stage to be difficult.  Sometimes it's tough to get the camera on my phone to focus where I want it. I wind up with great resolution on stuff I don't care about.

 

Since I last posted, I've rigged the boat.

 

 

There's a deceptive amount of rigging on this model.  I expected it to go faster than it did.  It's not all that difficult; there's just a lot of fiddly little things to do.

 

In no real order, here are some photos of my progress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spent some time making the chainplates.  In the end, I had to do it a couple of times to get good-looking ones.  I thought they turned out pretty well.

 

 

I had some trouble withe the rope coils.  I went into that little job thinking I'd knock it out in an evening.  Not really much to those things.  I have a little jig I use for wrapping them.  Then I hit them with hairspray to keep them together while I'm working with them.  Plunk them on the model and you're done, right?

 

Here's a typical one:

 

 

But when I added them to the model, they just looked ... wrong!

 

 

So I re-did them in a lot less complex way.  I'd left a lot of extra on the actual rigging line, so I just wrapped them into a coal, coated them with some white glue and weighted them down a little with a dental pick.  That gave the illusion of weight and the coils looked a lot more natural.

 

I had trouble taking pictures of those things, but you can see the same effect in the coils on the flag halyard.

 

 

Speaking of the flag halyard, I got it all rigged, as shown in the picture, and realized that, as I tied them down, I'd wrapped them around the shrouds, on both sides.  It was actually hard to see.  (You can kind of see it in the photo.)  But once I noticed it, I couldn't leave it that way.  I un-rigged it and did them again.  They look a lot better now.

 

So what's next?  The oars are done:

 

 

As is the grapple.

 

 

I got the case back from the guy who made the base for me.

 

 

That was a little story.  I don't have a table saw.  I found a guy with a millwork shop right across the street from where my kids take karate lessons.  I thought, "Look at that!  I can help a local business, get my base made and do it without making a separate trip because I'm at the karate dojo at least twice a week anyway."

 

He was a nice-enough guy, but he told me it'd be done in two weeks and took more like five.  And it wasn't cheap.  If he'd gotten it done on time, I wouldn't have had too much trouble with the price, but making me wait?  I felt a little ripped off.  Add to that the fact that, at about week four I started calling him about it and he wouldn't return my calls...  Anyway, it's done and it looks really nice.

 

So I have to install the oars and the grapple.  Haven't decided if I'm going to put the arm on the windlass.  Then I'll mount the model on the base and do a little touch-up of some spots where the paint's been marred by handling it, put a little brass plaque on the base and finish it off.

 

 

 

 

Dan

 

[dgbot]

Dan your Longboat is looking great.  I wish I could see it up close you are doing a bang up job.

David B

[Maury S]

Nicely done.

Maury

[kurtvd19]

Dan:

Really nice.   Glad you finally got the base.

Kurt

[BobF]

Dan:

 

Saw the model at our club meeting last night, and it's really impressive.  I really enjoyed discussing possible display options with you.  Can't wait to see how it all turns out!

 

BobF

[dcicero]

Kurt hooked me up.  My drill press wasn't big enough to drill mounting holes in the middle of the plinth I had made, so I made a trip over to Westmont and he helped use his much larger drill press to get vertical mounting holes drilled.  I tried other things -- guide blocks and alignment jigs -- but I wasn't convinced they were going to work and I only had one chance.  Thanks again, Kurt!

 

So, the model is essentially done.  Bob Filipowski suggested I build some oar racks to display the oars and I think I'll do that, but now that the model's mounted, I wanted to spend time touching up the paint and finishing up some small details that are just easier to do when the model's mounted on the base.

 

Here's what the boat looks like now.  I wanted to get it in the contest in Manitowoc this year, but my son's First Communion is happening the same day.  Not a hard choice!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dcicero]

I was telling Kurt when I was over there, I started this project because I wanted to participate in the group build.  As I've worked on it though, this little boat has grown on me.  I think it's turned out really well and I owe a lot to the people on MSW and in the Nautical Research & Model Ship Society of Chicago.  There were plenty of opportunities to put this model on the shelf and move along, but you all kept me at it and, for that, I'm really thankful.

 

 

 

Dan

[gjdale]

Congratulations on a fine build Dan. She looks lovely on her mounting base.

[kurtvd19]

Dan:

It looks good mounted and everything is straight!  Congratulations on a job well done.

Kurt

[dgbot]

Nicely done Dan. Your priorities are also right on.  I will miss seeing you there this year.  Congratulations on the lad's first communion.

[Geoff Matson]

Great job Dan!

[tlevine]

Looks great, Dan.

[tlevine]

And now it is the Gold Award winning longboat.  Congratulations, Dan.

[Mirabell61]

A very good job Dan,

 

boat and rigging look excellent... 

 

Nils 

[dcicero]

Thanks, everyone!

 

I entered the longboat in this year's Midwestern Model Ships & Boats Contest and Display at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, WI.  This was the 40th annual contest and was absolutely fantastic.  In addition to the regular model contest, we had a Masters Competition for Gold Award-winning models from prior years.  Talk about some amazing work!

 

It's so much fun to get together with other modelers, see their work and learn how they achieve the results they do.  I thoroughly enjoyed this year's event and would recommend it to anyone who can make his or her way to Manitowoc, even if you don't enter a model in the competition.  

 

And, yes, my longboat won a Gold Award!  

 

 

Dan

 

[Ryland Craze]

Congratulations Dan on winning a Gold Award.  You did an excellent job on your Longboat and it is always nice to see your work recognized by other ship modelers.

[Cathead]

Hearty congratulations!

[mtaylor]

Congratulations Dan.   That is quite an achievement.

[Nirvana]

Small boat, big Award!

My warmest and sincerest Congrats to the Award.

Splendid!

[gjdale]

Congratulations Dan, and thoroughly well deserved too!