Providence by Fentone - Artesania Latina - 1:25 - New England whaleboat

[Fentone]

Hi everyone. This is my first wooden model ship. I thought I would start with this kit, as it seems to be one suitable for beginners, and it looks beautiful in the photos (although I am not expecting my first work to look as good as that). I have never read Moby Dick, although that connection attracted me. It seems unbelievable that anybody would venture out in something so small to fight a whale. I guess they were made of strong stuff back in the day.

 

My previous experience has been limited to relatively easy model Airfix and Revell plastic aircraft. Even then I tried to smash those out in an evening or two with a friend, doing a late nighter with copious quantities of ale. I know this is going to be a very different experience. I intend to take it very slowly and carefully. The closest thing to this I ever tempted was a Guillows wooden plane,  the Fw 190. I made the mistake of using the foaming type of water activated Gorilla glue, which was a lot of fun, but made a terrible mess of the model. I never got to the wings and it was abandoned. This time, I have dedicated an entire bench to the project, and bought the appropriate tools. I will attempt it with a very different mindset.

 

Regarding tools, I basically had nothing to start with (I'm not much of a DIYer). I went a little overboard, but tried to keep it (relatively) sensible. I have attached a couple of photos. I will try and keep a log of what is useful or not, as when I was researching I really didn't know the difference between what I really NEEDED and what was nice to have. I suspect some of what I've acquired won't get much use, and yet there will be some surprises as to what becomes indispensable. My initial thoughts: I'm pleased with the table vice, which was relatively inexpensive, and has a ball socket that allows you to move the model into any position. I'm not sure the cheap rotary tool will get much use, and I'm not sure the epoxy will be used for anything. Same with the nail files, I mainly got them to have something to wrap the sandpaper round. I have a little hammer somewhere else. I'm not sure how well those super cheap plastic clamps will hold up.

 

I really like what I have read so far in this community regarding the MINDSET about approaching a build, and it seems that patience and mindfulness are championed here. I am hoping some of that will rub off on me, both in this build, and also in my daily life. With this in mind, I treated this week  as:

 

STEP 1: Man cave tidied and cleaned

STEP 2: Materials and tools laid out

 

I am looking forward to step 3, unboxing the kit, and reading the instructions.

[Fentone]

Ok, problem number 1, it came with no instructions! Just a CD (which I can't read as I don't have a computer with a CD drive on it). Is this normal for Artesania kits these days?

[Fentone]

Oh, I've answered my own question. Off the manufacturer's website:

• The new models come with instructions in DVD format, so we do not have instructions on paper, in order to also preserve the environment.

[Fentone]

All laser cut parts present. I've penciled the number onto each part so I can keep track of them once they are free. This mechanical pencil is truly wonderful (Rotring 600). I wish I had beautiful handwriting, like when you open up an old accordion and it has a curly 9 written in the wood.

[Fentone]

Made my first mistake. Getting the plywood pieces off the sprue proves to be much harder than I was expecting. The No 11 scalpel blade is a bit too narrow for this, as I'm scared of snapping the blade as it's really bending. The razor saw is better for this, but it needs space to draw it through. I thought maybe I could do it with a bit of finger force and twisting, but it split the layers of plywood and made this mess. Time to use the glue for the first time.

[Fentone]

Best advice I read so far, was about using a toothpick to apply woodglue. Worked really well. I also just found out why everyone said to buy tweezers.

[Fentone]

So it turns out that even if you just use the scalpel, the plywood tips have a habit of breaking off. I'm getting used to gluing and clamping now.

[Fentone]

All hull 'skeleton' parts successful extracted. To sand the Laser brown colouring off the edges or not? I'm leaning towards yes.

[Keithbrad80]

Fentone,

 

im looking forward to seeing your progress on this ship! 
 

About the blades breaking, it does happen that a blade breaks, not the end of the world but make sure a piece doesn’t hit you in the eye!

 

also with the laser cutting; when a laser cutter cuts the parts out it burns both sides of the wood as it cuts through creating a darker color called char. These charred edges create pretty ****** gluing surfaces, wood glue doesn’t do well with them. You have to be careful though which ones you get rid of. Gently sand the charred edges with A 150 grit Sanding stick until the char just disappears. 
 

the skeleton pieces you cut out should all have charred edges from the laser cutting machine, be carefully how far back you sand them, sanding the false keel to much will leave your bulkhead loose and later you are going to bevel your bulkheads anyway which will probably get rid of most of the char. Pretty much 100 percent of your frame is not going to be visible when the ship is complete. Every thing you do in this hobby requires forethought, just make sure you are thinking about where every piece will go, how it will all fit together, and what the final product will look like. 
 

Bulkhead construction could be the most important part at this point, it’s the only opportunity you have to make sure that every thing is lined up and square to false keel. Even slight differences between the port and starboard side can lead to large differences in planking later on. 
 

Sorry for the super long winded response, I’m looking forward to seeing your build progress, if you have any questions don’t be afraid to ask!

 

Bradley 

[Keithbrad80]

Also one last thing, with a #11 blade it’s sometimes beat to make lots of small cuts through the wood instead of trying to force it though the piece. Good luck and have fun!

[Fentone]

Thanks Keith! I've put it to bed for the night. I was surprised to find that the pieces really don't slot together easily, they are very tight. So, so far the No. 1 can't-live-without tool has been the needle files. I really can't see how you would file in that little square hole any other way. I have a question: is there a foolproof way of getting the 'ribs' square on at right angles? It's a challenge enough just getting them to fit together, and I have no ideas yet as to how you get the symmetry and precision you are talking about.

[BobG]

Hello Fentone and welcome to MSW. You made a good choice by starting with a smaller model instead of a big, complicated model. 

 

I have not built this particular model by Artesania Latina but I have built the Saint Malo and am working on the Pen Duick. My experience has been that the AL instructions are not all that good so you may run into steps that are confusing or even entirely left out. That's where asking questions here on the forum can be of great assistance in helping you get through the difficulties that you most likely will encounter. Problem solving and correcting mistakes is a big part of this wonderful hobby. Please note that you will get a lot of varying opinions about how to do things which is fine. We all find ways that work best for us and you will as well.

 

3 hours ago, Fentone said:

So it turns out that even if you just use the scalpel, the plywood tips have a habit of breaking off.

I prefer to use a #11 blade with an exacto type handle over a scalpel for the majority of my cutting with a knife. The scalpel is too thin for my liking when doing heavier cutting. Also, use multiple, lighter, cutting strokes rather than pressing hard. This will help prevent breaking pieces and will help you stay on line when cutting.

 

2 hours ago, Fentone said:

To sand the Laser brown colouring off the edges or not? I'm leaning towards yes.

You really only need to sand off the laser char if it is somewhere that you do not want it to be seen. It really won't affect the strength of your glue bonds. That said, if the char is particularly heavy and dusty, you can sand it lightly to get a better fit and bond.

 

Take it slow and enjoy each step of your build. Good luck! 

[Keithbrad80]

So the name for the ribs is the bulkheads, sometimes they are super tight which is actually a nice place to start, much better than being to loose. You can gently sand on side the bulk head or the false keel piece (the long piece that holds all your bulkheads) but I usually only sand one side so I don’t over do it. A little sanding really goes a long way here.

 

getting them square is kind of a complicated question lol. So you should work on one bulkhead at a time until the glue sets enough for you to work on another. You should use some kind square to keep them in place until the glue sets enough for it to hold (around an hour). Wood glue takes a full 24 hours to set so after the bulkheads are in don’t touch it for a day! 
 

Im working on a Flying Fish ship and am doing a build log for it. I have a detailed description on how I got my bulk heads square. You should check it out!

 

Bradley 

[BobG]

16 minutes ago, Fentone said:

I have a question: is there a foolproof way of getting the 'ribs' square on at right angles?

You can use small machinists squares and blocks or even large Lego blocks to help you keep the bulkheads square to the false keel. 

 

Find some of the other whaleboat build logs on the forum and read through them and you will probably see various ways people squared up the bulkheads. You'll find good images of that process on most build logs of many different boats and ships. 

[Fentone]

Thanks for all the advice, what a welcome! I will dive into the forums to look for bulkhead examples. I like the idea of using Lego bricks. Struggling to find anything solid and cuboid in the house.

[Vivian]

Fentone,

 

Good luck! I saw you already have a lot of good advises from people with the same interests. You inspired me to take my Mayflower box from the storage and will start to build It again from where I left-off since the spring. 
 

viv

[Fentone]

Glued the last of the 'skeleton' i.e. the bulkheads to the false keel. I spent quite a while trying to come up with a clever way to get the angles perfect with Lego. But in the end I decided to eyeball it, glueing a few each day. I'm sure it will end up wonky, but I want to make mistakes on this build and find out WHY I need to do it differently next time.

[Fentone]

On 10/19/2020 at 3:38 PM, Vivian said:

Fentone,

 

Good luck! I saw you already have a lot of good advises from people with the same interests. You inspired me to take my Mayflower box from the storage and will start to build It again from where I left-off since the spring. 
 

viv

 

That's great news Vivian! Would love to see a build log!

[Fentone]

Big mistake. Instructions call for you to bevel the 'upper edges' of these parts. It's not really clear which if it means both sides, one side, or all 4 long corners. Anyway I noticed in another build log someone used a tiny plane. I decided to to this by hand with a scalpel. Worked great the first side. Then I got over confident on the other side. The wood kind of "caught the edge" of the blade, and it took a big chunk. The next stroke split the wood on too. Also this piece totally doesn't fit where it's meant to go. I'm guessing it needs a bit of bending, but the the instructions don't say that. Also, it's too long, and the little holes don't line up properly. I took a little off one end, but it may be too much. Either way I need to wait 24 hours for the repair to set.

[Fentone]

Repair.

[Keithbrad80]

Beveling can be tough unforgiving work, you will have another chance to fix this bevel once all the bulkheads are on there. I would invest in a small hand plan it’s probably one of my most used tools while planking! Your progress looks great to me, good luck and have fun!

 

Bradley

[Fentone]

Finally got the (unbroken) one in place. The plank bending soldering iron did its job nicely. I discovered that filing while wet is a messy business. I took too much off each L and R end, so there are little gaps. Guess it will have to be shims or big dollops of glue. So far the "can't live without" tools have been:

 

(Gold) Absolute bare minimum:

1. Scalpel

2. Wood Glue (the special self cleaning spout on Gorilla brand is genius)

 

(Silver) Can't live without:

3. Needle files (literally no other tool does this)

4. Plastic Clamps (incredible invention)

5. Toothpicks (for applying tiny amounts of glue. Wish I'd known about this in my Airfix days)

 

(Bronze) Almost couldn't live without:

6.  Sanding blocks (reach for these over paper every time)

7. Plank bender (I guess you could use hair curlers, but you need something)

8. Thermos flask (to soak planks in hot water)

 

(Copper) Nice to have QOL, but not as essential as I thought would be:

8. Razor saw

9. Table vice

10. Mechanical pencil

 

(Iron) Still haven't used:

11. Rotary tool

12. Contact Adhesive and Epoxy

13. Rulers etc.

14. Masking tape

15. Nail files

 

(Unicorn) What I wish I had:

13. That hand plane Bradley mentioned

14. Small mitre block for the razor saw

15. Weird aluminium cross shaped bulkhead holder-in-place I saw in someone else's build

16. Varnish

19. Paint

20. Airbrush (live the dream)

 

 

[Fentone]

I've finally worked out why the holes in the plank don't line up properly. It turns out that the plank is NOT symmetrical around the center of the long axis. Therefore there IS a correct way up. Nowhere does it mention this in the manual, and it is not obvious from looking at it. However, it's too late, I already chose a side to be the 'top', and filed the back of the 'holes', however I made the wrong choice. I have two options.

 

1. Stick with my incorrect choice, like in the TOP picture, and make the square holes bigger on the right edge so they slot onto the bulkheads. However, those holes will end up HUGE, with a gap on the left hand side.

 

2. Flip it over and adapt the correct way up like in the BOTTOM picture (with the clamp). However I have already filed the holes, so it is going to look super ugly as you can see. Perhaps I could tidy up the ragged edges. Also the failed bevel is on this side. Also I have already shortened the wrong end, so there will be a massive gap on the far right which you can see, where it is meant to butt up against the bulkhead to the right of the orange clamp.

 

Any suggestions, votes please?

 

[Keithbrad80]

 You could try remaking this piece... if you have enough space on the same sheet of laser cut wood that those pieces came from you can trace the piece on a space that will be big enough to create a new one and cut that out, basically starting over. 
 

it’s a tough choice just because I’m not sure how visible this piece will be. For any small gaps you can add a bit of wood filler or a shim if it’s larger. 
 

here’s what I would do though, read through the instruction booklet and go on other build logs and understand what this pieces is and what role it plays in the overall structure of the ship. If you discover that this piece doesn’t play a big role in the structure of the ship then I would just make it look good, if it is super important then I would make sure it’s in the correct spot if not then it may cause more problems later. Regardless of how it looks I would make sure it’s in the right spot before continuing. 
 

your making good progress, good luck and have fun! 
 

Bradley

[BobG]

4 hours ago, Fentone said:

Any suggestions, votes please?

First of all, regarding the error, we've all been there especially when we were building our first models. I've tapered the wrong end of a plank and I've sanded through the hull. I also cut several new planks on my Medway Longboat since I wasn't happy with how they looked after they were already glued to the hull. So I removed them, traced a copy on some scrap and cut them out. It happens but it's wood and there's always a fix.

 

Personally, I would make new planks. If you have some scrap wood you can use that like Bradley said. If not, basswood is cheap and easy to find either at a hobby store or online.  

 

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Fentone]

Thank you for your advice and encouragement. So I had a look at another build log. Turns out that those "holes" are not visible anyway. Not until after I took my course of action though! Too bad. There is no spare basswood on that sheet, so I did this instead. I figured that this way was less messy than trying to cover up the ugly filing which is on the other side, but it doesn't matter either way as this bit will be covered ip.. At least I got some practice doing this sort of thing. I think this could have been a good candidate for the Contact Adhesive, as there is no easy way of clamping the slower drying wood glue in this position, so I don't know how strong this will be when plank bending tomorrow. However I'm used to the wood glue now, so felt more confident with it. Perhaps I should have taken a risk with the CA. I'll find out in due course.

[Fentone]

... in case it's not immediately obvious, I cut one side of the hole and transplanted it to the other side to shift the holes along a notch.

[Keithbrad80]

Finding solutions to problems like this is why I really enjoy this hobby! I’m glad you figured this out!

 

Bradley

[Fentone]

Plank, glue and shims survived the soaking, heat and bending (well actually the shim on the left fell off, but I squeezed it back in after the plank was clamped in place). Hooray for Gorilla wood glue.

[Fentone]

First "conventional" plank on. This guy was tough, because it had to bend in two dimensions, which I thought was a mathematical impossibility. Still the clamps managed it.