Mayflower by acaron41120 - Billing Boats - 1:60

[acaron41120]

Started my new build, the Mayflower by Billing Boats. I will try to follow a better format with this build log. Below are the first photos of my build.

In the bottom, photo, are items #2 and #3 bulkheads or a frames? They appear to be frames while #1 is a bulkhead. Am I missing something???

 

 

[acaron41120]

Stepped away from building to assemble the Professional Building Slip from Hobby Zone of England. The slip is a tad bit longer than I need at the moment but looks as if its going to work fine.

 

 

This is the keel assembly installed in the slip.

 

 

Frames and Bulkheads. Going slow on this part.

 

Now it's back to cutting the frames/bulkheads from the wood sheet. There are a total of 15 and I'm about to start cutting from frame 9. Takes about 1-1/2 hour of very careful cutting per frame as I'm cutting them from the wood sheet using Exacto three different knives. I'm going to have to get a mini saw for my next ship. Any recommendations for a mini table band or jig saw are welcome.

 

[Old Collingwood]

Thats a good start  - and that frame looks  like it will make a lot of difference  in taking the worry out of any miss-aligned frames.

 

OC.

[Thunder]

On 10/5/2020 at 1:18 AM, acaron41120 said:

Started my new build, the Mayflower by Billing Boats. I will try to follow a better format with this build log. Below are the first photos of my build.

In the bottom, photo, are items #2 and #3 bulkheads or a frames? They appear to be frames while #1 is a bulkhead. Am I missing something???

 

 

I think they have made part one a bulkhead as it actually forms the beak head bulkhead at the front of the forecastle.

 

Do you have to cut the bulkheads out? I have this kit on the shelf and they all just press out. Also instructions seem concise, have you got them?

 

If having to cut them out it may be worth investing in a scroll saw such as the Proxxon one, will be easier than a jigsaw.

 

You have asked a question else where about filing down the deck beams to make the deck flush. I would not advise unless sure kit is incorrect. Most ships decks are higher at fore and stern and have a camber so higher along the centreline. Helps with water run off from the centre of the ship.

[acaron41120]

Continuing on with the build log.

 

 

This is my build stand with frames 1 through 8 installed. The build stand really helps getting this aligned. This took two days to accomplish as it takes me about an hour to dry fit and get the frames installed. I only have 4 hours every other day to work on her due to my volunteer work and other duties.

 

 

Frames 9 through 13 and the mast step are installed. Frames 14 and 15 (at the aft) will take some extra work. Typical of some kits, not all the pre-drawn parts are quite right. There are some side pieces for frames 13, 14 and 15 that I'll have to make from pieces of scrap from the left over wood sheets that I saved. The originals were a little too short.

 

 

Frames 14 and 15 installed and the side pieces for frames 13, 14 and 15 were cut and dry fitted and then glued in place. Then I dry fit the false decks. This took some time as I had to file the false deck notches to fit the frames. But got it done. I'll leave the false decks in place to assist with the faring the frames; then my plan is to install the wale on each side before progressing on with the planking.

[Danstream]

Good progress, impressive construction jig. It looks a quite fine and accurate design, as it can be already seen from the arrangement of the frames and of the decks. My kit is instead disappointing as far as accuracy and design. 

Looking forward to see more.

Best regards,

Dan.

[acaron41120]

 

One of the things I do when I assemble kits is to trace the bulkheads and frames on a graph paper in case something drastic happens. So far so good but reading some of the NRG and MSW articles along with the model building books, is that more frames are better. So...with that in mind, and because I have the pattern for the frames, I'm thinking of adding another frame between frames 3 through 10 (numbered from front to back). These frames will only go from false keel to main deck and not be seen. Still have to ponder this idea and I like the idea of having frames spaced closer together but it is it really necessary?

 

[Danstream]

Hi Allen,

I believe that for a model, where load carrying considerations are irrelevant, having more frames is important for ensuring that the final shape is geometrically good, which means that the surface is smooth with no discontinuities. A sufficient number of frames must be present in areas where the geometry changes steeply and where the surface is highly 3D, i.e. bow and stern areas. In the middle, it depends on how stiff are the strips you are going to use for planking. In my case, I would have liked more frames because when I lied down my strips, I could notice the position of the frames by the way the strips changed their direction. Eventually, I mostly corrected that by sanding the hull afterwards, but this implies that my planking probably ended up having a small thickness at the frames location, which might be not an ideal situation. Not having enough experience, unfortunately I neglected this problem beforehand (together with several other ones) . However, after all this long note (sorry for that), I think that to decide whether you want to  apply more frames in a particular area, you could try pressing down one of your strips across several frames and check whether you can distinguish any unnatural change of direction at the locations where the strip touches the frames. Just my 5 cents opinion.

Best regards,

Dan.

 

[bolin]

I would agree with Dan.

 

Some additional thoughts. If the model uses double planking you will have more chances to fill out any mistakes in the first planking. Since your model is from Billings I guess that there just a single layer of planks provided in the kit (that is what I seem to remember from build threads from other of their kits). In that case your concern is probably warranted. As Dan suggests the most problematic area is probably the bow. One alternative to extra frames would be filler blocks from a soft wood (e.g. balsa) between the most critical frames.

[acaron41120]

Dan and Bolin. Thanks for your replies. I know about adding filler blocks but haven't tried it yet. It does seem as if there is less cutting with filler blocks than separate frames and trying to position them correctly. As the false decks are in place to supply some form of support for the sanding effort, I can remove the false decks and fit the filler blocks more easily. Great food for thought.

[Larry Cowden]

On 11/4/2020 at 1:42 PM, acaron41120 said:

Continuing on with the build log.

 

 

This is my build stand with frames 1 through 8 installed. The build stand really helps getting this aligned. This took two days to accomplish as it takes me about an hour to dry fit and get the frames installed. I only have 4 hours every other day to work on her due to my volunteer work and other duties.

 

 

Frames 9 through 13 and the mast step are installed. Frames 14 and 15 (at the aft) will take some extra work. Typical of some kits, not all the pre-drawn parts are quite right. There are some side pieces for frames 13, 14 and 15 that I'll have to make from pieces of scrap from the left over wood sheets that I saved. The originals were a little too short.

 

 

Frames 14 and 15 installed and the side pieces for frames 13, 14 and 15 were cut and dry fitted and then glued in place. Then I dry fit the false decks. This took some time as I had to file the false deck notches to fit the frames. But got it done. I'll leave the false decks in place to assist with the faring the frames; then my plan is to install the wale on each side before progressing on with the planking.

You chose Billing Boats. why? Do you have a link for your jig?

[acaron41120]

On 1/18/2021 at 9:28 PM, Larry Cowden said:

You chose Billing Boats. why? Do you have a link for your jig?

 

Larry. Back in the mid 70's while stationed in England, I lived in Felixstowe. A friend of mine was building the "Norske Love"  by Billing Boats and I told him I was interested in trying that and he took me to the store where he purchased his kit and I stuck with Billing Boats. As for the building jig, I got it from Hobby Zone of England while doing a search for ship building jigs. I believe their web sit is hobbyzone.com.

Edited January 21, 2021 by acaron41120

[acaron41120]

Larry.

 

I did some searching and found the web site for my building slip. Here you go:

www.hobbyworld-usa.com/Store/index.php?id_product=2074&controller=product

 

[Knocklouder]

Hello, I read that you were looking to stain your Mayflower.  I was wondering if you have stained it. Would like to see it  .The Mayflower is a fun ship to build, having so much fun with mine,  just curious  🤔   hows yours was going.  Happy building   

Edited February 13, 2023 by Knocklouder
Typo of course