USF Confederacy 1778 by WalrusGuy - Model Shipways - 1:64

[WalrusGuy]

Still slowly progressing on the stern framing. I faired the stern, then installed the sills and faired again. It was not as difficult as I thought (maybe because I fixed the issues with the wood sliver), but I noticed the window cutouts are a bit too snug. I think it's fixable by slightly sanding the windows or the spacing itself. 

 

I also started framing the gun ports at the stern. 

Edited June 18, 2021 by WalrusGuy

[desalgu]

You're doing great work on the stern, very cool looking!  Your building is always so neat and precise, and great photos.  No surprise for a structure like this that it required some shims to get things to fit.  I can imagine the difficulty getting it all aligned.  It is so different and more complex than DOK that I'm building.

 

This looks like a good sized model, significantly larger than Syren.  I was a little surprised, DOK is slightly smaller than Syren.

 

 

[WalrusGuy]

Thank you David! Lots of tweaking was necessary to align the pieces, but also very satisfying! 

 

I finished Chapter 2 of the instructions. I realized the smaller gun ports at the stern were not square but rectangular as shown in the plans, so I had to cut out the lintels I glued and change its position slightly. I also glued down the false decking. I just used yellow carpenter's glue to hold down the layer. Before sticking it I first sanded some bulkheads down which were not in level with the others. Also had to widen some notches for the pieces to fit nicely. Here are a few pics of where I am at with the fillers also glued and faired:

 

Next I will build a small deck sample to see how the treenails look, then will start on the planking at the bow section, and then the gun port framing!

Edited June 20, 2021 by WalrusGuy

[WalrusGuy]

Thank you all for the likes!

 

Just a quick update, I made a sample deck to try out some finishes. On the left I used Tung oil and on the right is a sanding sealer. I wanted some contrast between the deck and the hull planking (a lighter deck and darker hull). I will be trying out some more varnishes/finishes before making my decision. Any suggestions are more than welcome!

[desalgu]

Beautiful work, as always.  Interesting to me how low the stern gunports are, just above the waterline I'd guess.  Not quite sure how you could see anything to shoot at from there.

 

Out of these two finishes, I like tung oil the best.  Sealers have fillers in them which doesn't let the wood show thru as much.  They tend to have a cloudy look to them.  Matt or flat finishes are similar, but with a lot less filler.  If you put multiple coats of matt or satin finishes on something, it will tend to get a "cloudy" look or hide the wood grain a little bit.  I've learned the hard way making little end tables that for furniture it's best to use glossy until the last couple of coats, and then put on final satin or flat coat.  You don't notice it with 1 or 2 coats.

 

You might try clear matt or flat acrylic that you get at art stores.  I've used this before and it's worth trying.  Easy to use since it's water based.

[WalrusGuy]

On 6/23/2021 at 8:07 PM, desalgu said:

Beautiful work, as always.  Interesting to me how low the stern gunports are, just above the waterline I'd guess.  Not quite sure how you could see anything to shoot at from there.

 

Out of these two finishes, I like tung oil the best.  Sealers have fillers in them which doesn't let the wood show thru as much.  They tend to have a cloudy look to them.  Matt or flat finishes are similar, but with a lot less filler.  If you put multiple coats of matt or satin finishes on something, it will tend to get a "cloudy" look or hide the wood grain a little bit.  I've learned the hard way making little end tables that for furniture it's best to use glossy until the last couple of coats, and then put on final satin or flat coat.  You don't notice it with 1 or 2 coats.

 

You might try clear matt or flat acrylic that you get at art stores.  I've used this before and it's worth trying.  Easy to use since it's water based.

Thank you David!! I tried using the matt acrylic as suggested. It is very similar to the first coat of the sealer. I also made another deck testing station, and tried a polyurethane satin varnish. Here are a few pics of the results (with just natural light):

 

Another pic with the overhead lights switched on:

I am now very confused on what to do. Before I was thinking of having the decking appear lighter than the hull planking, but I just like the look of basswood with tung oil too much. The treenails also look darker with tung oil, and I like that look then the muted ones from other finishes. I may just use tung oil for everything. Would love to hear other opinions though! 

 

Another option I was thinking about was putting tung oil on the sanding sealer. I applied the oil on the section I did before and the nails appeared darker like what I was hoping for: 

I am now also considering this option. 

 

I also finished decking a small section at the bow. So I will think about the finishings before I start planking the vertical part of the bulkhead.

Edited June 26, 2021 by WalrusGuy

[PRS]

I like the look of the tung oil without the sealer first. Seems to bring out the color of the wood better.

[WalrusGuy]

3 hours ago, PRS said:

I like the look of the tung oil without the sealer first. Seems to bring out the color of the wood better.

Thanks Paul. I decided to go with Tung oil for the deck and hull. I'll probably be using sanding sealer for the wood below the wales for a little bit of contrast. 

 

I'll start planking the vertical section and then will apply the tung oil. 

[WalrusGuy]

I finished planking and treenailing the vertical section (the bamboo skewers were thinned down to the third last position on the drawplate). After some sanding I applied tung oil:

I'll next plank the otherside of the same bulkhead, put in the door jambs, and fix a slight warping issue on the false deck..

Edited June 28, 2021 by WalrusGuy

[desalgu]

After seeing your tests, I like tung oil the best also, and I'm glad you decided to use that.  It really brings out the grain in the wood.  The planked parts you've done look super nice!

 

When you get to a place that you think you want to use sealer or acrylic again, do another test comparing it with tung oil.  I think oil will be hard to beat and will still give you enough contrast with other wood.  I'm thinking I'd better get some and give it a try.

 

[Peta_V]

That looks great!

[WalrusGuy]

13 hours ago, desalgu said:

After seeing your tests, I like tung oil the best also, and I'm glad you decided to use that.  It really brings out the grain in the wood.  The planked parts you've done look super nice!

 

When you get to a place that you think you want to use sealer or acrylic again, do another test comparing it with tung oil.  I think oil will be hard to beat and will still give you enough contrast with other wood.  I'm thinking I'd better get some and give it a try.

 

 

9 hours ago, Peta_V said:

That looks great!

Thank you for the compliments! I may try some other finishings later down the road if I feel inspired. But for now, tung oil is a pretty safe bet! 😉

[WalrusGuy]

The aft side of the bulkhead is now planked. I installed the door jambs first which was not too great of an idea. I should have planked it first so I could file the edges more easily. I managed to cut the planks to shape, so it was not too bad, just took a bit longer. Here are some pics:

Next up is the gun port framing. This ship has lots of guns, so this will take a while 😄

[WalrusGuy]

I hit a bit of a snag when using the testing batten to see the sills of the gun ports. I noticed I did not completely sand my bulkheads flat before gluing down the false deck. So now there are two spots where the deck is not level at the ends of the bulkhead. Here is a picture that shows this issue:

All these issues arose because the two problem bulkheads did not fully enter the slots for them. Only if I had quadruple checked!! 

 

To resolve this, I think I have to carefully remove the false deck and sand the tops again to be level with each other. Another (tricky) way would be to remove bits and pieces of the bulkhead below the false deck until it remains flat.  I will probably spend a day or two deciding what to do... If anyone has any idea I am all ears! I was also considering asking for replacement parts from ModelExpo and start the thing again, but I will try fixing this before I go that route.

Edited July 8, 2021 by WalrusGuy

[WalrusGuy]

Never mind! I think I fixed it. I used the second option of removing bits and pieces from about 2 cm in to the edge of the bulkhead using a #11 blade. It was very tricky, so I had to be a bit slow and deliberate when removing the excess material. I used these clips to hold the the false deck so I could see if it is level or not. Seems to be good now (or at least much better!). Before permanently assembling the sills, I will make sure the guns can fit nicely using a cutout of the plans. So that will be the next step..

Edited July 8, 2021 by WalrusGuy

[abelson]

Good choice on the tung oil.

[WalrusGuy]

Thank you Steven!

 

I made the small jig of the canon, and it seemed to clear the batten at all locations by the same distance:

I then started gluing in the sills. First, to cut them I lined them up at the bulkhead, used a sharp #11 blade to mark the location of the cut, then used the hand saw to cut them out. This resulted in most of the pieces fitting nicely in the first go. I then glued pairs from both sides together to make sure they are completely horizontal. This was done by resting a ruler on them to make sure they were flat. Here are a few pics showing where I am at:

 

Next up are the lintels. These should be a bit easier than the sills as I will use a strip of wood to act as a spacer, so no need to adjust each piece very carefully.

[WalrusGuy]

Moving along at a slow but steady state. The lintels and sills are now all glued permanently. For the lintel of the quarter deck, I used binder clips to hold the slight curve in position while the glue dried. Here are a few pics before I start the vertical parts of the framing!

Also, please do not hesitate to comment if I made any mistakes 🙂. 

[Wahka_est]

Looks really good. Better than mine as i used a lot of glue to make it stick. The lintels were coming off when sanding so i glued it permanently

 

[WalrusGuy]

4 hours ago, Wahka_est said:

Looks really good. Better than mine as i used a lot of glue to make it stick. The lintels were coming off when sanding so i glued it permanently

 

Thank you! A couple of mine also came out, so will need to put some extra glue, but I think the vertical pieces will help with making it more secure 😄 

[captain_hook]

You‘re doing a wonderful job, caring about every step. Keep up the good work. Hope you don‘t mind me following your build. 

[desalgu]

Beautiful work, as always!!

[WalrusGuy]

10 hours ago, captain_hook said:

You‘re doing a wonderful job, caring about every step. Keep up the good work. Hope you don‘t mind me following your build. 

 

5 hours ago, desalgu said:

Beautiful work, as always!!

Thank you Captain Hook and David! 🙂

[WalrusGuy]

The sides of the gun ports have now been framed and faired. It was very satisfying vacuuming the area revealing the smooth lines! 

 

There were some areas where the bulkheads were not truly perpendicular to the keel, so I had to glue some extra pieces so that the framed sides are symmetrical between both sides.

 

Anyways, here are the photos!

[WalrusGuy]

Thanks all for the likes!!! 🙂

 

I finished up all the framing and skeleton work. Drilling the holes for the sheaves was a bit tricky, but I basically measured where the holes were supposed to be on both sides of the bulwark, then drilled from both sides till the holes combined.

Next up I will fill in any gaps of the gun port framing, sand the insides smooth, then paint them red. Then, I can finally start planking! 😁

Edited July 28, 2021 by WalrusGuy

[Gahm]

Your framing looks really good! You are well under way for another beautiful model 👍

 

Thomas

[WalrusGuy]

7 hours ago, Gahm said:

Your framing looks really good! You are well under way for another beautiful model 👍

 

Thomas

Thanks so much for the nice words, Thomas! 

[WalrusGuy]

Just a quick update before the planking begins. I painted the gun ports and marked the locations for the top of the wales. The red provided by the kit is brighter than that of the Syren, and imo looks much nicer!

[Nirvana]

WalrusGuy, please don't be shy..... it's okay to reveal a true first name.....🙂

I just finished reading through your build log and I have to write (say) your ship is coming along beautifully.

I remember when I received my kit (waiting to be built) how heavy the box was.

Your build log will certainly help me.

 

[WalrusGuy]

18 hours ago, Nirvana said:

WalrusGuy, please don't be shy..... it's okay to reveal a true first name.....🙂

I just finished reading through your build log and I have to write (say) your ship is coming along beautifully.

I remember when I received my kit (waiting to be built) how heavy the box was.

Your build log will certainly help me.

 

Hi Nirvana, many thanks for the nice comment! My true first name is Harshil 🙂 

 

Yeaup the box is heavy, I was also surprised by that! But I guess most of the weight comes from the many laser cut sheets.

Edited July 31, 2021 by WalrusGuy