Mayflower by SkerryAmp - Model Shipways - 5/32" = 1'

[popeye the sailor]

if that's what you did.......I really don't notice it     I see stuff like that a lot........very shiny with the initial application,  but as it cures and dries,  it might tone down to a more natural,  neutral finish.   looks very nice....really adds to the super build you've done so far   

[SawdustDave]

Looks great Andy Suggest you clear out the background of your photos in order for your subject to show up better. I usually spread a cheap plastic table cloth from Walmart for most of my shots. Anything with a solid color will do.

[SkerryAmp]

Adam:

This is a good looking model. Nice work on the bowsprit.

 

Russ

 

Thanks Russ,  that was a little trickier than I thought - still need to find a nice easy way to taper masts and what not - did the drill method but still a little on the iffy side.

 

if that's what you did.......I really don't notice it     I see stuff like that a lot........very shiny with the initial application,  but as it cures and dries,  it might tone down to a more natural,  neutral finish.   looks very nice....really adds to the super build you've done so far 

 

Thanks Popeye,  After having time to look at it the finish has tapered down a little bit so doesn't look so bad now.  First couple of days it was a big glossy ship, looked like somebody super turtle waxed it!   Luckily it did even out and settle down so I feel much better!

 

Looks great Andy Suggest you clear out the background of your photos in order for your subject to show up better. I usually spread a cheap plastic table cloth from Walmart for most of my shots. Anything with a solid color will do.

 

Good point.  I really should do something about the clutter shots - the admiral actually has a photo box she used for her jewelry and stuff when she sold things on Etsy,  maybe I will try that out =)

[SkerryAmp]

Hey All,

 

Just stopping in to give a quick status update.

 

Having spent the last few weeks in various states of "sick".   The admiral and I played a little bit of pass the cold back and forth and then mine decided to give up and just settle in and turned into a little bit of pneumonia so have not really had it in me to post and stuff - but will catch up on those.  So I have been spending far too long "spent".   Little bursts at the bench though and will have pics and stuff next week when I return.

 

Today is the Admiral and Mine 10 year anniversary so we are headed down to Plymouth MA.  Going to spend the weekend at King Richards Faire, Plymouth plantation and then swing by the Mayflower docked down there.  Also just had to share that while her and I don't typically do anniversary gifts, we decided for a 10 year we would - she got what she wanted and she gave me a heads up that apparently there is a Syren in my future .  Good stuff good stuff.

 

So, I will be returning Sunday and will have the pics of what little I have done over the last few weeks up and posted Sunday Night / Monday.

 

Until then,  Enjoy All!!!

[augie]

Happy Anniversary!  What is it about vacations that puts us all on our backs.  We've been in the same boat since our trip.

 

Glad to hear you have a Syren in the wings.  Great build!

[popeye the sailor]

congratz you two..........sounds like a lot of fun!

[SkerryAmp]

Happy Anniversary!  What is it about vacations that puts us all on our backs.  We've been in the same boat since our trip.

 

Glad to hear you have a Syren in the wings.  Great build!

 

Thanks Augie!!

 

Ugh, I dunno... we both finally got over "sick" just before heading out,  but neigher of us have ditched the cough, really getting annoying and takes a lot out of you coughing so hard so often... not fun!!!    BUT - helping me quit smoking   SO that is good I guess =)

 

And yep,  Syren is on it's way - well, whenever it gets off backorder .. so that is one off the wishlist and into the closet!

 

May even try to get some wood upgrades from Hobbymill before he closes shop   (May even have to bug you to get insight into what you picked up )

[SkerryAmp]

congratz you two..........sounds like a lot of fun!

 

Thanks Dennis!  It was a great time - in fact didn't miss the work bench once the whole time so that says a lot!  Of course, now home.. catching up on the stuff I fell behind on while sick - NOW want to get back to the bench.

 

Been doing little bits when I can steal a moment but a good run is coming soon.. I can feel it!

[SkerryAmp]

So, will have updates very soon - hopefully tomorrow.  However, in the meantime I did throw some pictures of the Mayflower II up for folks to look at (should you wish to)  ... yes, shameful plug

 

It was a fantastic time and very interesting!!!

 

 

The rest of the pics can be seen in the topic http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/8442-mayflower-ii-plymouth-ma-pics/

 

 

Until later

 

ENJOY!

 

[augie]

If you're going to deal with Jeff at Hobbymill you had better hurry!!!!  Not much insight to offer as I did Syren with all MS supplied material.  Used Jeff's help on Confederacy.  If you need some quick input you might PM Bob (Rafine) as I believe he used Boxwwood and Holly supplied by Jeff for his Syren.

 

Glad you're feeling better.  

[SawdustDave]

Hi Wayne....Trying to play a little catch up this quiet Sunday morning. Anything new with your beautiful Mayflower?

 

Dave

[SkerryAmp]

Hi Dave, As it so happens I have been working on the mayflower,  albeit a bit slower than I had hoped.  Have been stealing moments here and there to work on the Mayflower, the other ships, the database project =). 

 

The Mayflower is at that portion of the show which I have the least confidence in my abilities.  Wihle I am excited to get the masts and rigging up (after all that is the final stage right, in the home stretch), it is where I get the jitters! .   So I hit it with great trepedation!  Granted, I need to ramp up skills in all aspects of the ship building,  but the masting and rigging is my biggest struggle - planking is a definate runner up to that,  so far I can HIDE the oopsies with the planking though

 

However, I did get some work done as I had mentioned.   I will apologize, I took pictures as I went along but am not exactly sure where they are.  It is enough to make me think I am losing my mind.  I am SURE I took pictures of the crows nests being built up as well as the mast work in steps - but alas,  I could not find them all.

 

Anyway.....

 

I have the masts started.  They were tapered using my Robbe Cordless Drill as a lathe and sanding them down by hand.  IF anyone should try this apporach PLEASE be sure to wear a glove.  I wore Mechanix gloves which are nice in that they fit tight (no bulk) and offer great protection from the friction.  If you try to sand a mast down on a drill bare handed you will definately have a bad time!

 

Once I got the masts tapered I wrapped em up and attached the rings using chucks suggestion of manila folder cut into strips, stained and glued in place.   Below is a picture of all three mast bottoms.   I still need to attach the cleats and chocks, but once those are on they should be ready to go.

 

 

The crowsnests were a struggle.  I used the kit supplied part as the base and per chuck's instructions sanded out the center ridge.  The trouble i ran into is no amount of sanding evened out the color.  I have a clear pale stripe around the center of the crowsnest outer wall.  I sanded the HECK out of that thing and could not get rid of it .  So, it is here to stay. I was hoping that the stain would even it out a little, but alas - no.

 

So, there is a stripe, not seen in this pic but you will see it when they get installed.   The deadeyes were done up per the instructions and was pretty eas (towards the end) to get them going. The first couple were a pain but by the last one I had it down so that when I was done I was kind of disappointed I didn't have more to do.

 

The holes were drilled on my newly acquired micro mark drill press.   I have been looking at it and some of the other tools for a while and finally decided to pull the trigger on this one.  I was looking at the Proxxon Mill believe it or not, even had the Admiral on board with it!  However in the end I really wasn't sure all I was going to do with the mill other than be an expensive drill press.  So, got the drill press - should the day come that I find a need for the mill, at least i have pre authorization!

 

Anyway the one problem I had was the drill bit really didn't fit well in the Micro Mark chuck as it was hard to get it centered well, however after a litle digging - problem averted...

 

 

That little guy right there made it so adding a tiny drill bit was a snap!

 

 

Then it, with the larger shank, took to the chuck JUST fine!

 

 

So, if you use the little drill bits and have a hard time getting it lined up a chuck, or get a lot of breakage from chucks - I highly suggest it.   Although I do know some companies sell the tiny drill bits with the 1/8 shanks,  this will work for me until I can afford to pick some of those up!

 

The final result..

 

Some crowsnests which will suffice. (fear not, that one deadeye is not way off center just flopped back a little bit on the thread.  Will striaghten in line when rigged up).

 

They are not perfect - but they are not to shabby I don't think.

 

 

 

So, like I said a tiny update for now.  I have been working - just not with hours to go as I was for a little bit, but still plugging along....

 

 

Until later all - thaks for stopping in and HAPPY MODELING ALL!!

 

Thanks!

Adam.

Edited November 10, 2014 by SkerryAmp

[SawdustDave]

Nice work Adam. I found those little crows nests to be a heck of a challenge, but a load of fun to build.

[riverboat]

hey Adam.... hope you're feeling  better, really liked the picture of the Mayflower, it's so nice when you have a real reference when your building the same ship. Your Build is coming along nicely. by the way if you think ,what is it the 84?, is bad you ought to come out here and test the 91 freeway!!! It's horrible. did you get your Ann. gift yet? lucky dog!!

 

Frank

[augie]

Crow's nests look pretty darned good to me!  That micro chuck looks like a good idea for centering those small bits.  I think you'll like that drill press.

[SkerryAmp]

Nice work Adam. I found those little crows nests to be a heck of a challenge, but a load of fun to build.

 

 

Thanks Dave, appreciate that a lot.  They didn't come out 100% how I wanted, but with each accomplishment something is learned

 

hey Adam.... hope you're feeling  better, really liked the picture of the Mayflower, it's so nice when you have a real reference when your building the same ship. Your Build is coming along nicely. by the way if you think ,what is it the 84?, is bad you ought to come out here and test the 91 freeway!!! It's horrible. did you get your Ann. gift yet? lucky dog!!

 

Frank

 

Thanks Frank, slowly but surely she is getting done!

 

Ugh, 84 is horrible!!! hehe.  Mainly through CT.  If 91 is anything like it, no thanks I will pass!

 

*** for the Anniversery Gift,  yessiree.  1 Syren sitting on the shelf.   I have an order in to Jeff before he closes up shop. Boxwood and Holly just for the Syren build.   Won't be milled until mid January, so will gather up other stuff between now and then (Chucks rigging, cannons, eyes, blocks etc etc) and Mid January is the target time to start the Syren!  

 

Crow's nests look pretty darned good to me!  That micro chuck looks like a good idea for centering those small bits.  I think you'll like that drill press.

 

Thanks Augie, appreciate it!    That micro chuck is great!! and I do indeed enjoy the drill press.  Has made some things SO much easier!

[SkerryAmp]

Well, post happy holidays to all!

 

Still around and hoping to get back to the Mayflower soon.   I got very wrapped up during the Thanksgiving through New Year stretch (get it, wrapped up! hehe, I crack myself up) and then... /sigh.... got knocked out of commision for a bit new years eve. See,the Admiral and I decided it was time to get active and get in shape.  So, we signed up for a Thai Kickboxing class.  Really good stuff, but boy is it rough.  Anyway, her and I were practicing Knee Strikes on New Years eve and I went ahead and tore my calf muscle.   You would think being laid up and not able to walk around would give me TONS of time to work on things like ships,  but moving around the benches and getting this and that is not happening =(.

 

So, will be a bit, but wanted to do the customary update that I have not indeed fallen off the earth.  Will be catching up on the great builds I have been following tomorrow, I see a TON of updates to catch up on! WOOHOO, good stuff!

[SawdustDave]

Sorry to hear about your injury Adam. Torn calf muscles not fun to go through... Been-there-done-that ....

By the way.... Among the very last things I would want my wife trained in would be the art of kicking.... If you know what I mean.

[augie]

Great to hear from you but sorry about the injury.  Working when you're in pain is no picnic.  Oh well, there are the football playoffs to keep you occupied.

 

Get better ASAP.  We miss you!

[Jimz66]

Get well Adam. Great blog. Can't wait to follow along when you return. BOOYAH

[Stuntflyer]

Get well soon Adam! I forgot to mention a while back that the Mayflower kit I got has Britannia Crow's nests. Yours look like they are wood. I will have to find a way to scratch them. Dave's method looks interesting.

Edited January 8, 2015 by Stuntflyer

[popeye the sailor]

sorry to hear that Adam........I'm surprised to hear that your admiral had to learn to kick........I thought their mothers taught them that 

 

my son Brandon did Ty Kwon Do as a youngster.......worked his way up to green belt.   got into that damn break dancing......and messed up his shoulder and elbow.........go figure 

 

well.......you get better my friend.........good to see an update from you.......but not with this news........GET WELL SOON!!!

[patrickmil]

Get that leg feeling better Adam! We want to see some more progress updates.

[DCIronfist]

Here's hoping for a quick recovery

[SkerryAmp]

Sorry to hear about your injury Adam. Torn calf muscles not fun to go through... Been-there-done-that ....

By the way.... Among the very last things I would want my wife trained in would be the art of kicking.... If you know what I mean.

 

 

Thanks Dave,  there is a reason we are doing it together - get in shape, and if she is doing I kind of HAVE to in order to defend myself

Thanks for the good word.... after catching up on all the great builds I am going to be seeing what I can do tonight to organize things to get at them a bit better and get some stuff done!

 

 

 

Great to hear from you but sorry about the injury.  Working when you're in pain is no picnic.  Oh well, there are the football playoffs to keep you occupied.

 

Get better ASAP.  We miss you!

 

Thanks Augie,  I can say during the pats game my leg did not hurt at all - at least didn't notice it with the stress and chest pains through the whole game  ...what a game.   

 

Get well Adam. Great blog. Can't wait to follow along when you return. BOOYAH

 

Thank you much!  Will be seeing what I can do tonight to get working again with minimal movement 

 

Get well soon Adam! I forgot to mention a while back that the Mayflower kit I got has Britannia Crow's nests. Yours look like they are wood. I will have to find a way to scratch them. Dave's method looks interesting.

I saw that in your log - the britannia ones are "interesting", after seeing your mad scratch-building skills I am sure your home made nests will be MUCH better!

 

sorry to hear that Adam........I'm surprised to hear that your admiral had to learn to kick........I thought their mothers taught them that 

 

my son Brandon did Ty Kwon Do as a youngster.......worked his way up to green belt.   got into that damn break dancing......and messed up his shoulder and elbow.........go figure 

 

well.......you get better my friend.........good to see an update from you.......but not with this news........GET WELL SOON!!!

 

Thanks Denis,  she isn't so much learning to kick, but to kick harder and more efficiently ...  that makes it much much worse!!

 

I am going to make a concentrated effort to get another update very soon once I rearrange the work area a little bit 

 

Get that leg feeling better Adam! We want to see some more progress updates.

 

Aye aye!  That is the plan Pat - looking at all the great work being done and then staring at my builds sitting there near pining for the fjords I have to figure out something soon or I think I will go nuts!!

 

Here's hoping for a quick recovery

 

Thank you DC, much appreciated and much agreed - this thing can't get better fast enough

Edited January 14, 2015 by SkerryAmp

[SkerryAmp]

Well, leg is coming long - can move around a bit better in the work-area so started at the Mayflower - still not 100% but slow progress is better than no progress =)

 

I didn't do stage shots =(, just kind of as usual got going ad wrapped up a part and snapped a couple of pics.

 

The latest addition is the foremast.   Built pretty much 100% by the instructions so not much insight to put in on this one.  Although I did get a little messed up in that the plans looks like there should be a couple of  dead-eyes under the crows nest on the cross beams, yet I could not see anywhere they seemed to be actually used ?

 

SO that was a tad of a quandary....  I haven't mounted the foremast quite yet, it is just wedged into the fore mast hole and will be glued in place once I am sure those dead-eyes are not in fact needed or used.

 

ONE tip I can give,  try to drill the mast holes early.  I lost sight of them a bit and ended up drilling the holes after I had finished up the hull, deck and fittings.   Going at the deck with a Robbe power drill was a bit of an anxiety inducing moment for myself AND the admiral who exclaimed OMG! WHAT are you DOING??!?!?

 

Anyway, here is the mayflower with one foremast ready to go.

 

 

 

By the way, I am okay with this pace for now.... the ratlines terrify me!

 

Happy Modeling All!

Edited January 30, 2015 by SkerryAmp

[SawdustDave]

Glad to hear you are on the mend Adam.

Foremast looks nice. Feels good to start making her tall, huh?

Usually, all I can think of at that point is " one step closer to rat lines".... Ha ha

 

Cheers

[augie]

Great to hear you're feeling well enough to get back to it.

 

Yup.....there's not much more frightening than breaking out the old 1/2" drill on a 5/32" scale ship model.

 

Don't sweat the ratlines.  Master the knot and don't let the rats pull in the shrouds.  Take your time.  Just a bit of swag is a good thing.

[mtaylor]

Hi Adam,

Nice to hear that you're healthy enough to get back in the shop.   I quite agree about drilling holes.. a white-knuckle trip for sure.  I hope you have the holes already drilled in the keel .. or will you mount it some other way.

[hexnut]

Ouch on the calf.  I did kick-boxing for a number of years until I reached the age that I spent more time trying to heal than staying in shape...  

Glad to see you back in the shop. 

Personally, I plan to distance myself from any sharp objects tomorrow night, hope I won't need a blood-pressure cuff. ..  GO PATS!!