Fifie by Ras Ambrioso - FINISHED - Amati - 1/32 scale

[Ras Ambrioso]

Alan:

Those clips work great on the flatter part of the hull but, when the hull starts curving  they don't provide sufficient pressure. In going though the planking of my Fifie I finally found the best tool: plastic headed board push pins. I tried the little nails but they are a pain to hold and hammer in. I have two pin pushers but, the nail's head provided on the kit were too big.

 

Eamonn:

You are correct. They are called the silver darlings, that's where I got the idea. I am now looking at providing a little shape to fake the head and tail. We will see. I am retired and have all the time in the world to do things.LOL

[Ras Ambrioso]

Well guys, Back to business. I successfully completed the first planking and even though it may not look too pretty, it is smooth as a baby's skin. Hopefully the walnut final planking will go uneventful.

 

Starboard side

 And port side

 

 

 

[Ras Ambrioso]

While I wait for the glue to dry, I continue my search for "silver darlings" (herrings) to fill my "cran" baskets. As I mentioned before I found aluminum foil to be a great medium to provide the silvery look. Today I tried to perfect the method by adding some black paint to the silver "fish". It didn't work beacuse the paint won't stick to the aluminum foil. Then I tried the back side of the foil, which is matte. Success. Following are the steps I took to build my "catch".

First: make a little strip of foil

 

Then, using an Xacto gouging tool, I cut first the head and then the tail. I cut in succession, which means, that the head of one fish is the tail of the next one across the aluminum foil strip. Then with a small needle nose plier or, better yet, your nails you pinch the fish at the tail. The results follows

 

 

 

What do you all think

 

 

 

[Ras Ambrioso]

Sorry about the videos. They didn't upload and I didn't know how to erase them.

[egkb]

Hi Ras .. Now you are talking ! ..  Would it be possible to squash them a bit near the tails to give that 'fishy' shape.. (even only the top visible ones in the basket or Cran)?  I think that would nail it, as they say.

 

Eamonn

[Tim Moore]

Hi Ras - yes I agree with Eamonn...you’ve got the right coloration there and it should give you the right sort of look in the aggregate...just a little more form to the fish on top and that should work pretty well.

[Ras Ambrioso]

Thanks for the comments guys. The top of the cran in  the picture is out of focus but I did cringed the tails. I will take another picture closer to the top of the basket. It is fun to do all these experiments.

 

For the main build, today I was getting the hull ready for the top planking doing a little more sanding and filling. Then I decided to take a break and work on the final detailing. The project this time was to build the ladder to get to the hold from the fore hatch. I thought of making a jig but decided on a different system. I measure the opening in the deck 20 mm. I established the angle of the ladder and measure the height if the ladder. I then cut two strips, leftover from the base planking, and marked the steps. Then I cut little pieces at the right angle and glued them between steps. Then I cut the 8 steps precisely at 20 mm. I assembled my ladder between a piece of wood measuring exactly 20 mm. I was so happy.

 

 

Finally, I took the ladder off the mandrel and presented to the hatch opening

 

 

Holy cow. The I forgot to deduct the 3mm thickness of the ladder rails. The finished ladder is 23mm wide. BobGarcia  says: "Measure once, cuss twice". So right.

But no big loss. I am going to enlarge the reach hatch that appear awfully narrow in the kit. I will carefully will measure the width so my ladder fits. Then I will make another ladder 22mm wide. And that is the lesson for today

[egkb]

And it was all going so well .. 😆 ...  One of the handiest things I made for my build was to produce a wee scale 'man', then place 'him' next to whatever I'm building to give a proper sense of scale ..  I then look at him and compare it to myself.. ie .. 'That would come up to my knee, does that feel right ?'  (I tend to think we sometimes make stuff on our models too 'chunky' if you follow.. and this 'Wee Man' can help to overcome it) mine is shaped from a small piece of left-over planking wood, but I'm at 1:64 scale.

 

Loving how you made the ladder btw .. I shall have to remember that !

 

Eamonn

[Ras Ambrioso]

Eamon: All is well in Ras' land. Today I build the narrow ladder and it fits. Unfortunately is not long enough. The hell is in the details. The forecastle has no floor. I measured that ladder's height for the fish hold which I had detailed. But, since the forecastle is not going to be detailed, I will hang the ladder from the deck beam. With the hatch partially opened , it will do the job.

 

I also worked on the hull planking. I am definitely need to practice. Its coming out OK but not the best. I purchased the half hull planking project from the NRG. It is sort of a practicum on planking. The instruction manual is 73 pages long.

 

 

Photo didn't come out too good but ,you may go to the NRG site and get the information

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ras Ambrioso]

Starboard side is complete. Not the best planking job but, I've had a lot of fun doing it. I knew that a curve is a polygon of infinite sides. Therefore, if you have a very curvy surface, you could break it into into smaller pieces to cover it with a flat objects. If I was working on the shipyard, I would be fired on the spot. But this a hobby and we are here for the fun.

 

 

Port side next.

 

 

 

[Ras Ambrioso]

In the last week I have completed the planking of the Fifie. Had some trouble with the fairing of the frames and the tapering of the planks. At Chris's suggestion I have bought NRG's tutorial for hull planking. I now have the kit and it is going to be fun to learn the old ways. 

Here is the last plank

Planking done

Filled, sand and primed

 

The priming brings in some additional booboos. Some will be filled and sanded but I will have to live with the others. So is life. Besides these boats used to be made in poor shipyards and they were for poor fishermen so....

 

For the newbies information. I used Miliput for the first time and have to say it is fantastic. Lots of possibilities with this material.

[egkb]

Nuttin' wrong with that Ras, deffo Looks the Business ..

 

E

[Ras Ambrioso]

Thanks E. I promise to do better next time. 

[Rik Thistle]

Ras,

 

A little bit of filler, good sanding down and a coat of paint and she'll look like a million dollars. She's progressing very nicely.

 

Richard

[Ras Ambrioso]

Well the hull painting is done.

First the bottom

 

Then, the top

 

 

I was going to start the hull painting with the fat white waterline, but I found a little difference between the port and starboard  rub strakes. This was due to the asymmetry of my planking. I plan now on a slimmer line made with chart tape.

 

Have also been doing the preliminary work on the pilot house. We will cover this later.

 

[Ras Ambrioso]

The hull planking and painting is finished. However I still need to attach the gunnel rail. Starting work on the pilot house.

 

 

 

You may be able to see some of my booboos but I think that, for a poor man's boat (the fisherman), they give some reality to the ship.

 

And then the  pilot house. I am working on a layout for the controls of the ship following the work of Big Dan. Thanks for watching, I am having a ball.

 

[James H]

Lovely work. Nice to see another of these being built. 

[Ras Ambrioso]

Thanks James. 

[Ras Ambrioso]

Little progress. I dry fitted the ladder and the aft companionway and you can hardly see the ladder. When I install the door, which is already fabricated, the ladder will be invisible. So much Effort!

 

 

 

I have also been working on the pilothouse and I am pleased with the results. 

 

 

I placed one my figures inside and it sure look tight. These pilot houses were mainly designed to protect the helmsman from the weather. Be it as it may, the figure is actually to scale 1/30 which translate in a guy 6'-6" tall. I bought these figures in France (See my previous posts) and they are beautiful. I also bought some figures from Tamiya but they are 1/35 scale which makes a 5'-4" fellow. I figured Scots as really tall and brave guys so I'll use my frenchies. Besides, I only intend to man the deck.

 

 

Also been thinking about the helm. The mechanism provided by Amati seems very complex for something that will be literally hidden inside the pilothouse. I have been following PJG's built and have come out with the following idea: To build a wood encased helm that will include levers for gear and throttle, the compass and the engine instruments. Pardon the scribbling in my sketch, Will appreciate your comments.

 

 

[egkb]

Hi Ras .. Just a quick Heads-Up .. re the Console you have drawn, if the Red and Green items are part of the Compass (Compass Balls) then they might be the wrong way around (looking at the drawing the bow seems to be Top Right) Green/Starboard would be to the Right and Red/Port to the Left .. Of course I may be just misinterpreting your drawing .. If so please ignore ☺️

The Wheelhouse (Pilot House) looks great btw ! She is coming along a treat.

 

Eamonn

 

 

[Ras Ambrioso]

A little more progress. I tried to do the roof covering the same way I did my Patricia steam  launch. This was to cover the roof with cloth to imitate tarps. I did this with the cloth provided by Amati for the sails, but, it seems that that the edges tend to unravel. I brushed some Elmers glue and will see tomorrow how it went.

 

 

The big progress was in my pilot house. I built the helm as per my sketch but did not drop the top to make room for the throttle and the gear. I think it may look better to have these controls closer to the helmsman hands. Who knows? Basically, I didn't pay attention to my sketch and endeavored to fit this helm in the space available. So be it.

 

 

 

And this shows my previously made compass fitting nicely in front of the cabinet.

 

 

I have made mini-copies of vintage instruments and will glue them to the slanted part of the helm, in front of the compass. The compass will have his compass rose. I thought about bezels but I think I am getting miniaturization this too far. My eyes can't handle these ultra small stuff. Besides, you can hardly see these details once I set the roof over it.

Finally, I am looking for something that resembles formica to cover the top. The sides will be planked with my leftover from the outside if the pilot house.

 

Thanks for watching and I love to hear your comments and/or advise. FYI, my Patricia launch took me 5 years to complete as I had tremendous lapses in my construction time. Your interest has inspired in me this desire to finish this boat and the go into another build. I am having a ball.

[Ras Ambrioso]

Eamon:

You are obviously EU and I stand corrected. A Scottish vessel should have the green on the right and red on the left. We, "yankees", have the opposite. I found that out one day in Rotterdam when we were entering the river with a green marker on the right. I almost fainted thinking that we will be run aground.

 

BTW, in the US, we have the intercostal waterway which I frequently boat on. There, the red is to the land side while the green is to the ocean side. This make it very confusing to people not used to it. And then, if you leave the intercostal you must go back to " red, right, entering" which sometimes has a green and a red marker in the same place. Many a boater has been caught in this conundrum 

[egkb]

Hi Ras .. I see the problem, that system is only for Navigation Buoys in a waterway (EU -v- US being different ) ... But the Port Side of a vessel is always Left and Stbd Side is always Right (facing Forward of course) regardless of where you are in the world 😀 in fact, even if you are facing the stern of the vessel you are standing on Starboard and Port are still the same as if you are facing forward.. as they are linked to the vessel itself not the crew location .. if you follow (in the same way as West is the same direction regardless of what direction you are facing) ..  Phew, Ras sorry about that longest winded description of Port & Starboard on MSW 😆

 

That Console & Compass is deffo going to look Great in that wee Pilot House  !

 

BTW I've sailed into Rotterdam/Europort many times in the 80's.. my first time there we were met with 500+ vessels waiting for the 'Wandelaar' pilot !

 

Keep up the wonderful work

 

Eamonn

 

[Ras Ambrioso]

More on the pilot house. We have been wondering at the engine controls and have gone to several evolutions. This final one is this. It came relatively easy to build. I took a dowel and made a lengthwise cut in half. I sliced the half round like pepperoni and carved  two grooves. The levers were made from map push pins and I selected Red (port) for gear and Green (starboard) for throttle.

 

This was the result:

 

The instruments were made using and online picture that I printed reduced to the 1/32 scale. The same with the compass rose. I installed the supplied wheel just to see the fit. I intend to fabricate in more reasonable wheel following PJG's build.

 

 

I then dry fitted the helm into the pilot house

 

Noticed I also installed the door with its hardware and left it ajar. 

 

 

Next I will finish the windows with the acetate and the frame. I also will make the roof removable so that, every once in a while, I may enjoy the insides.

 

As a matter of reference I want to tell you about another super detailed ship: the Eilean Mor. It is a Clyde puffer and Banjoman (the builder) has a pilot house detailed to the chart tools and even the pencil. He also has the coolest crew. He posted his build in "Model Boats" forum at modelboats.co.uk. I got a lot of ideas from him.

[egkb]

Brilliant Stuff Ras

 

E

[bobandlucy]

Love the instrument board!

 

Bob

[Ras Ambrioso]

Thanks Bob l. I love the details. 

 

Ras

[Ras Ambrioso]

Just had a wonderful weekend navigating the rivers of central Florida. Lake County, properly named, connects with the world through the waters of the Oklawaha river joining the St. John river all the way to Jacksonville. We went through two locks; one of them had a 20 feet drop. The vegetation is typically tropical and gives you a sight of what Florida may have looked before tourists. This a photo of part of the river.

 

 

 

Back to the workbench. Continue working in the detailing of the pilot house and the aft superstructure.

 

 

 

 

BTW, I made the roof removable so that we can enjoy the helm. I think I am going to add a clock and a barometer. Need to figure where.

If I thought that planking was a difficult task, I never realized how hard it is to manipulate the tiny etched parts. This is the finished aft skylight.

 

 

And the fwd skylight

 

 

And then, in between skylights, I fabricated several wood crates that will be used to sort out the fish. They are tiny, the squares are 1/4".

 

 

Thanks for watching. I am having a ball while my wife plays shuffle board. LOL

 

[Ras Ambrioso]

More progress but, I have to say, very slow. Started to work on the rudder and found that the hinges were not designed for the double planking. When I tried to re-shape one of them, it broke. 

 

 

I figured that Amati did not count on the double planking. As a result I had carve out the upper layers.

 

 

This is the rudder with the hinges installed:

 

 

Then I found that the propeller supplied in the kit did not rotate when the rudder was presented to it. I had to file down the circular opening in the rudder to make it fit. Following is the result of almost four hours of work.

 

 

Still need to add the female portion of the hinges. This is going to require some more trim since the free space at the stern post is smaller than the hinges legs. I will probably cut the leg to fit. Details, details, details.

I should have paid more attention of what was coming while I fidgeted with the planking. Live and learn. 

 

 

 

 

 

[egkb]

You'll get there Ras.. Nice bit of shaping on that rudder by the way.. Oh and that top photo of the Gudgeon looks like it came off an actual boat, wish I could do metal work like that.

 

Eamonn