Albatros by kramer - FINISHED - OcCre - 1:100

[kramer]

Day 1 of my first build! Still have some cleaning up to do and sanding. I've seen quite a few others who started with the Albatros so I feel I'm in good company. This will be slow going as I'm facing a bust spring and summer, but I'm looking forward to getting into it. Thanks!

Kramer

[Al72]

Hey Kramer,  good luck on your build.  I’m building the same ship.  I just started making the masts.  I hope to get one done this weekend.

[faragocito]

I'm also building the same ship. It´s my first model and I'm enjoying it. Rigging and masting its what I have left.

[kramer]

It's coming along...slowly. Not as much tie to work on it when the weather is nice. Next step is to sand down the supports and hull and frames then on to planking. I'm looking forward to this step. I've been reading a lot and watching videos, but I wanted to ask the group if there was a definitive, easy to follow step by step guide for beginners? There's lots out there. Thanks.

IMG_0044.HEIC

[Keith Black]

Kramer, please attach photographs and not HEIC downloads. Thank you. 

[kramer]

IMG_0044.HEIC Sorry...thought I did. Trying again.

[kramer]

[kramer]

I need to invest in some rubber bands. Soaked the pieces for about an hour. They weren't as pliable as I thought it would be but seems to be bending fine. 

[kramer]

Faired today for the first time. Hard to know how much is enough. I kept checking it with a plank and felt better and better about it. I hope I faired enough. I had to experiment with just sanding, scraping with a blade, and using a chisel. Chisel definitely worked best to take off bigger sections but as you can see I left a few gauges. I'll sand a little more tomorrow to smooth it out but so far feeling pretty good about it. I'm sure I'll become more of a perfectionist as I learn.

[kramer]

Prepping the bulwarks. I tried using clamps to test holding them in place but couldn't keep them from rotating. So I decided on nails and wood glue. I've read some people don't really like nails or think they're necessary but I didn't see any other way to do it. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 13, 2021 by kramer

[ERS Rich]

Good morning....suggest adding a flat and half round wood file to your tool kit....offers tighter control over sand paper....

 

Looking good!

 

Cheers

[kramer]

Bulwarks are on! Not the cleanest, but I'm pretty happy. It was a bit nerve-wracking doing this for the first time. I learned a bit along the way. Seems to be fitting ok. 

 

[kramer]

Thanks, Rich! Will do.

[kramer]

I just caught a mistake. I wasn't supposed to cut out the deck planking where the frames meet the deck. I might try to cut out some pieces of plank to fill this in. 

 

[kramer]

Not sure how this will play out. I might have to trim the bulwarks where they meet at the bow. Seems to come to too much of a point.

[kramer]

Not a bad repair. I couldn't be much more precise. The lining strakes will cover a lot of it thankfully.

 

[kramer]

[kramer]

My first crack at planking! Not perfect but I feel pretty good about it. I learned a lot from planking just these three planks per side. 

 

[kramer]

 

A little rough where the planks contact the frame in the stern but I'm hoping I can clean that up when planking is done and I start sanding. 

[kramer]

 

Plain to see that I did not sand the frames enough on the starboard side, causing the planks to crease sharply when they pass over the frames. I corrected this on the port side and it looks better. 

[kramer]

 

Planking away! Helped a lot when I soaked the planks in water for an hour before glueing and nailing. 

[kramer]

First planking is done! I'll post some pics later today. Now I need to make the hull smooth. I relied a lot on the brass nails (as you can see) to keep the planks in place while the wood glue dried, but now I realize that filing them down is going to be a pain. I assume it's important that I file them down and get the hull smooth for the second set of planks, which is much thinner than the first. I imagine any little bumps in the hull will show, even though the second set of planks is much darker. I have a small file and lots of the soft sanding blocks. I guess this will just be a tedious slog is filing and sanding to get the hull perfect. Any advice out there?

[Keith Black]

You should be able to remove the brass nails using a jewelry flush cutter (see pic) Pulling the nails is going to make your sanding task so much easier. Don't just cut off the head, work the nail back and forth till you can pull it out. 

 

Edited October 10, 2021 by Keith Black

[kramer]

I’m able to get some out with needle nose pliers but some are pretty sunk in the wood. With the flush cutter will it dig into the wood too much? And if so I guess if I don’t dig too deep I should be able to sand it out. Either way like you said probably much easier than trying to file all those nail heads down. Thanks for the suggestion and the picture of the tool! Ordering it now. 

[kramer]

 

 

 

 

 

[kramer]

First planking done, on to sanding. I started pulling the brass nails out with a needle nose pliers, the ones I could get. Before Keith's recommendation, I started hammering the nails in deeper thinking that would help, but now I think it'll only make things a little more difficult. Oh well, that's what the first build (and this forum) is for, to learn. I'll have to wait until I get the jeweler's tool Keith recommended to get the rest. Thanks again Keith! Definitely agree it will make the final product much cleaner and more polished looking. I know those thinner planks next will show the imperfections I leave if I don't finish the first set of planks properly.  

[Keith Black]

Kramer, driving the nails in deeper was a mistake but one that's not insurmountable. You'll have to dig the pointed end of the cutters into the wood as close to the head as possible to get enough bite to lift the nail out. You're going to have gouges but that's why God made filler. 

[kramer]

Any filler you recommend in particular?

[Keith Black]

I've used this in the past, it's easy to sand. 

 

 

 

 I really want to try this stuff. 

 

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/timbermate-wood-filler-water-based-8-oz-natural?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImY_pu7bB8wIVQWxvBB2Alg3jEAQYEiABEgIwB_D_BwE

 

 

Edited October 11, 2021 by Keith Black

[kramer]

Thanks Keith!