Albatros by kramer - FINISHED - OcCre - 1:100

[kramer]

Thanks for the advice. And brown thread is on the way.

[Ian_Grant]

Good looking model. Great job!

[Oldsalt1950]

This may be a little late for you, but the masts on most Baltimore Clippers are raked. I looked at the plans for the Mantua version, and the fore mast is raked at 5 degrees the main at 15 degrees. Hope this helps and you are able to step the masts with this rake. She's looking good.

 

Edited February 19, 2022 by Oldsalt1950

[kramer]

Hey OldSalt! Thanks for the info. The masts are in and I did rake them slightly, but I couldn't tell you the degrees. But they are raked the same, didn't know that the fore and main masts could be raked at different degrees. For my next build (not finished the Albatros yet but I'm already thinking about my next!), I will do some research as to the raking. 

But while I've got you, I'm going to start the sails soon and I'm not sure how I should make them look. I've read boil them in tea or don't do anything to them. I've seen people apply a watered down glue mixture to the sails and roll them over a cylinder to give them the appearance that they have caught wind. I've also read some folks say the sails could be furled. Any opinions? 

[Oldsalt1950]

I'm not big on sails, I like to be able to see all the rigging. That being said, a dunking in some tea to make the sail cloth look a bit aged is not a bad idea. To do so, make sure you have some scrap material so you can test the time you leave the material in the tea to get the look you want. If it doesn't come out uniform don't worry sails carry different coloring depending on what they came in contact with. Salt spray would make them white.

 

[Keith Black]

Baltimore Clippers seem to be the exception regarding mast rake. Most other ships employed a 3 to 7 degree rake. 

[Oldsalt1950]

23 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

Baltimore Clippers seem to be the exception regarding mast rake. Most other ships employed a 3 to 7 degree rake. 

Very true, but they also carried less sail on shorter masts allowing them the greater rake.

[kramer]

The details in this hobby are infinite! Here's some updated pics. Still waiting on my brown .15 thread from OcCre so I can do the rat lines. The plans call for raw colored thread but I thought the brown would look better. 

[kramer]

Fore topmost staysail is on, my first sail. For the fore and mail sails, I think I'd like to billow them slightly. Nothing too dramatic. I've seen a few techniques. I think I'm going to drape them over a coffee can and spray them with starch. 

[Oldsalt1950]

She's looking good.

 

[kramer]

Finally got my brown thread from OcCre so I started the ratlines. I think the darker thread was the right call aesthetically. I got half way done with the first shroud and realized I did the ratlines backwards. The larger holes are supposed to be on the bow side according to the diagram, not the stern side. But I figured since this is not going in a museum, I can get away with it, this time. Quite a monotonous process, but coming along. I need to develop the right technique to make the ratlines taught enough but with a little sag. 

Another thing for the future, I've seen people talk about making their own rope. And I've seen some pictures of some really nice rope. I don't like the fuzz on the .15 raw thread. Doesn't seem to be an issue with the brown .5 thread. For my next ship I think I'll try and get some better thread. From the pictures I've seen it makes a big difference.

[kramer]

Ratlines are done! Probably my least favorite part of the build so far. And by least favorite I still enjoyed doing it. I guess I never got into a methodical rhythm of tying the knots and clove hitches, and I never got consistent with the tension I wanted; not taught but not too much slack. I'm glad I tied them though and didn't just glue the ratlines to the shrouds.

And apologies for the pictures, I don't know why they're importing sideways. 

 

[kramer]

Foremast sails are up! Coming along, it's starting to look like a ship.

And again, sorry the pics are coming in sideways. I have no idea why it's doing that or how to fix it. I haven't had this trouble before.

[Gregory]

1 hour ago, kramer said:

And again, sorry the pics are coming in sideways. I have no idea why it's doing that or how to fix it.

Might be a solution here:

 

 

[kramer]

Sails and rigging are coming along.

[Keith Black]

 Kramer, that's all looking right proper, nicely done indeed. 

[kramer]

My Albatros is done! Well, according to the instructions it's done. I'd like to add a couple of modifications that aren't in the kit. Im going to add some coiled line to the belay pins. Also, I was hoping someone could help me fabricate my own tender (I think that's what they're called...the boat used to go back and forth to shore from the ship...sorry, I'm new). After reading posts I wanted to up my game a bit before I mount her on a shelf. I'm not crazy about the metal tender they provide that I painted brown and black. I saw a post where someone build their own tender out of scraps and it looked great! Any instructions out there to help me build my own?

Next step is to make some modifications to my work bench and mount a shelf I can display my Albatros on. I really enjoyed this build and I'm excited about my next. I learned a lot doing and reading this site. I'll provide my list of lessons and recommendations later. 

I'm going to stick with OcCre for my second build. I liked the quality and the customer service was excellent. I have it narrowed down to the Endurance or the Terror. Any votes?

 

[Keith Black]

A very nice build and a successful completion. Congratulations, Kramer. They're called a 'ship's boat' not a tender. You should be able to use the MSW search engine to find build logs for a ship's boat. Again, congratulations. 

[GrandpaPhil]

Congratulations!  Nicely done!  
 

I would personally vote for the Endurance.

[kramer]

Thanks Phil! Great minds think alike...already bought the Endurance. I'll start a build log soon.

[allanyed]

Congratulations on your first build!!!!  You should be proud of your accomplishment.  

 

We ALL make mistakes in the beginning and most of us still make some (hopefully fewer) as we gain experience. 

 

On 4/2/2022 at 8:59 PM, kramer said:

I'm going to stick with OcCre for my second build. I liked the quality and the customer service was excellent. I have it narrowed down to the Endurance or the Terror. Any votes?

Neither.

You might benefit by looking at the  kits from  Vanguard, MS, and Syren via the build logs here at MSW before making a decision.   Look at the quality of the little things like their blocks, gratings, sails and rope which are higher quality and more realistic in appearance.

Allan

Edited June 18, 2022 by allanyed