Norwegian Sailing Pram by lraymo - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:12

[lraymo]

22 hours ago, Keith Black said:

Don't be goofy, buy the nails.

Keith, you are so funny!  I appreciate your posts and your encouraging words!  When I was thinking I'd have to quit, one of the things that made me continue forging ahead are the comments from you and others on this forum, and I would miss them!

(I went ahead and ordered the nails!!!)

I will also look into the hemostats.  Interesting tool!

[lraymo]

Thanks, Steve, Druxey, and Keith, for your encouragement!   I am doubting my abilities, but as you all say, it's all part of the process.

So today, I attached the pintles to the rudder, and I can actually connect the rudder to the transom.  Small steps!

[Retiredpm]

I just completed the Dory and have ordered the Norwegian Prim. Great reading your log and can’t wait to start mine.

[lraymo]

@Retiredpm, I just looked at your Dory.  Very nicely done!  I had fun with mine, and it was quite the learning curve, as I am a rank beginner!  I think you will enjoy the Pram.  I am encountering all sorts of issues along the way, as you can tell, but its all part of the learning curve.  Have fun!   And all the build logs have been (and still are) very helpful along the way!

(On a  side note, I am also a "retired project manager" (if that's what your username is referring to!)

[Retiredpm]

13 hours ago, lraymo said:

@Retiredpm, I just looked at your Dory.  Very nicely done!  I had fun with mine, and it was quite the learning curve, as I am a rank beginner!  I think you will enjoy the Pram.  I am encountering all sorts of issues along the way, as you can tell, but its all part of the learning curve.  Have fun!   And all the build logs have been (and still are) very helpful along the way!

(On a  side note, I am also a "retired project manager" (if that's what your username is referring to!)

I’m a retired Postmaster

[lraymo]

Ahh, Retired Postmaster!   That makes much more sense!    Happy retirement, and enjoy the Pram!

[lraymo]

Finally drove the remaining nails into the rudder gudgeons, rudder, and one oarlock pad.  Lost a few more nails (slippery little things!), but I've ordered a pack of 100 nails so I should be able to finish the rest of the oarlock pads, and whatever else comes up.

I also ordered the hemostat, which should help me hold on to these tiny pieces! (thanks, Keith, for the suggestion).

In driving the nails, I scratched some of the transom, and had to repaint a bit.  Also, I didn't trim off enough of the nail in some spots and pushed it out the other side.  Lessons learned. Be sure to trim off enough of the nail, and be more careful (i.e., patient) when working on tiny items!

Next step... the (gulp) mast!

 

 

[druxey]

Did you pre-drill holes for the nails? If not, that is helpful.

[lraymo]

Druxey, yes I did!  I remembered you gave me that advice, and I adopted it!  Thanks, and it worked like a charm!

[Keith Black]

Lynn, looks very good.  

 

 Before you start your next project you need to familiarize yourself with brass blackening. There are several threads on the subject and can be found via the search option. It's the next step up the ladder when making brass bits.

[Tigersteve]

Very nice! Echo Keith’s suggestion here. 
Steve

[Ryland Craze]

Looking good Lynn.  The learning process is the fun part of building these models.

[lraymo]

Ok, my question is this, regarding brass blackening.  Are you saying that all brass pieces should be blackened?  Nails too?   Or is there a standard for what kinds of pieces need to be blackened?   I read several threads on how to blacken  (looks like there are several products out there that can be applied to brass to blacken them)... but how does one determine which pieces should be blackened?  Thanks!

[Keith Black]

 Lynn, very few fittings on a ship/boat are brass due to strength requirements. What is brass and what is iron requires a bit of research, looking at other build logs of the same model is the easiest though in time, experience will fill in the blanks.

 

  Nails represent bolts and most all bolts are black, there are some brass bolts but they are the exception. There are a lot of brass screws but they would have a slotted head. Some hinges are brass and some are iron. Mast and yard bands are iron as is all chain. Some fancy fairleads are brass but most are iron. Ringbolts, eyes, and hooks are iron. Stanchions and rails and the ships bell are for the most part brass and some parts of a ships wheel can be brass.

 

 As I said, learning to blacken brass is the next rung up, learning what to blacken may take two rungs. Birchwood Casey Brass Black is by far and away the best product IMHO. Also, rubber gloves should be used when blackening. 

 

 A caveat to this is.........you don't ever have to blacken brass if you don't what to, it's your provocative, you are the builder! Are you building a model for the sake of building a model or are you trying to replicate a ship/boat as it was in real life? There may be a book on ship's fittings and the material used to make them but I'm unfamiliar with one if there is. If so, someone shout out, TY. 

[Cathead]

Another way to look at it is that blackening most metal will improve the realism but leaving metal as brass can improve the artistry. There are some very nice models that leave all fittings brass, it's very attractive, just not as accurate. My take would be to choose one way or the other for the most part (for example, as noted above, bells remain brass even if other metal is iron). Haphazard mixing (like blackened rudder hardware but brass chainplates) may look inconsistent or even silly.

[lraymo]

Thanks Keith and Eric, for the explanations!   I hadn't considered then question of whether I was building for the sake of the model or trying to replicate real life!   I think I just assumed the kit was focused on what the ship would look like in real life, and I think that's the look I was hoping for.  But I like Eric's idea to not mix & match.  You both have given me alot to think about.  For the Norwegian, I'll finish it up in brass, since I'm almost done with the metalwork.  But going forward, I'm going to be doing research on whatever ship kit I get, and try to go for realism.

At the moment, I'm considering getting the 3rd ship in the series, after I finish this one, since I need sooo much more practice in building up skills!  thanks again!

And btw, thanks Eric, for the kind words you left on DPhilBrick's build log about my blog questions!

[Keith Black]

17 minutes ago, lraymo said:

For the Norwegian, I'll finish it up in brass

 And once finished she's going to look like a million bucks, Lynn. Each build gets us a step closer to Nirvana or so it says here on page 43 of the Ship Modelers Guide to the Universe. 

[lraymo]

It's been a busy "life" week, so just now getting back to the model.  Finished the mast.  I wasn't completely sure about the fittings.   I created the halyard sheave (to the best of my ability without splitting the wood!).   But I wasn't sure about the "shroud eye" (I just assumed that was where the straps for the back stays were located,so I glued them in, complete with bolts!)

And it says "drill hole for halyard block", so I assumed that was the pre-drilled hole in the mast from the kit?  Anyway, I think I've finished the mast, unless I've missed something.

Next is the boom and gaff.  Slowly getting there.

 

 

 

 

[Keith Black]

Lynn, you doing OK? Miss seeing you about.

[lraymo]

Hi Keith, yes, doing fine, and thanks for asking!  Progress had stalled for a bit, while other life issues got in the way, but working towards getting back to it!  Had to remove/relocate the workshop (a.k.a. kitchen table) to accommodate guests, but slowly getting back to modeling.  

Workbench prior to guests:

 

Ready for guests to arrive, but alas, model work had to stop!

[lraymo]

Just now getting back to work on the sail!  I was nervous, but using some tips from the various blogs, its turned out ok so far.  Used Mod Podge to coat the sail fabric (instructions said to use watered-down glue, which is what Mod Podge claims to be), and it worked out well.  Also, realized too late that someone had mentioned pencil marks are hard to erase after coating.  So now I have a few permanent pencil marks.   So far, so good.  Next is tackling all the rigging.  I will need to read the instructions a few more times, as I'm still not sure about it, and I'll need to revisit some of the blogs to get a feel for what needs to be done!

 

 

The sail is complete!

[Keith Black]

Lynn, the sail looks good! And it's good to see you back. 

[druxey]

Good to see your progress, Lynn, as well as your return. Most of us have used the dining table early in our model-making careers and some of us still do.

[lraymo]

Started the rigging.  It looks simple enough, but its more complicated than I thought.  I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing.  The Lacing was difficult.  With a lot of grumbling and some strategic placement of glue, I was able to wrestle with the thread enough to make the Lacing look like it does in the instructions, at least on the Front side.  But the Back side doesn't look nearly as good, and yet I couldn't figure out any other way to lace the thread.  Oh well, I will continue on.

Front side of sail:

Back side of sail: (I'm not sure its supposed to look like this!)

[Tigersteve]

I think the sail looks pretty good. Shouldn’t the spar be rounded though? That is sticking out to me. Doesn’t look right. 
Steve

[lraymo]

Steve, you are correct! I missed that section in the instructions (or maybe i was just too tired when I read that paragraph!).  I have enough thread to try to undo the lashing/lacing, and round the spar, and put it back together again.  I also forgot to round off the "boom" spar too.  Hmm, I see a bunch or re-work in my future!   Any thoughts on what the back side should look like? Should it match the front side?  I didn't know how to do the threading to make it come out the same on each side.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Cathead]

This is just a guess, and hard to describe in writing, but I think the thread on the back side is being tucked under itself before heading off to the next loop around the spar/sail, and that's what's letting it get drawn up along the spar and out of the way rather than creating the diagonal that you have. Looking closely at the instruction photo you posted, I can see that each section of thread running along the spar does a little jog under each loop that looks like it's tucked under and drawn tight.

 

So consider the following actions. Starting at the end of the spar, from left to right, for each loop:

- Thread gets run to the next loop

- Thread goes over the spar, down through the hole in the sail, out the other side, and back up to the spar.

- Now, thread gets tucked under itself, from left to right, then run toward the next loop. This ought to pull the previous one tight against the spar and draw the overlap up to the spar instead of across the sail.

 

I tried this in my mind and it worked. Don't know if that's clear, or even right (could be mistaken). If you want, I can make a quick test case with a  few photos to show what I mean.

[druxey]

Look at the photo in Step 49, and you'll see that the line hitches around itself on the top of the spar before moving over to the next hole. (The instruction describes this as well).

[lraymo]

Thanks Cathead and druxey.  I will deconstruct the whole thing and try again.  First, as Steve points out, I will round the spars.  Then I'll re-do the Lacing, with your helpful descriptions, Cathead.  And druxey, I re-read the instructions and it make smore sense now.

Onward and upward!  Someone once said that making mistakes is how to learn.  I'm learning a lot with these steps!   

[Keith Black]

Lynn, if you're unhappy with rounding the square stock for the spars, they sell round wood dowel in multiple sizes in oak and a mysterious white wood.