Polaris by MarcusWebb - OcCre - Scale 1:50 - My first build

[MarcusWebb]

There were tears before bedtime with this one.

 

I think I need to start at the beginning. The kit arrived later than expected. It was almost 3 weeks after the order was placed. Being a first-time builder, I was of course, very excited and quite ready to begin, but sensibly saved it up for the weekend. Whilst this was quite a good idea it did cause me some isssue.

 

I had spent the previous two weeks looking on OcCre's website and found the Instructional build videos helpful. As such, I took the first couple of hours making sure that every part that is listed in the instructions is there. I have to say they're generous and they have provided extra pieces, such as more planks than are needed for the Decking.

 

So I checked this all very carefully, and whilst there were two bent pins, out of a total of 400 that are supposed to be there, there were 408 including the two bent ones. I don't feel hard done by at all. Here's some shots of the unboxing and part breakdown. I had labelled every plank and mast and spar but what I wasn't prepared for were the problems ahead.

[MarcusWebb]

So far, so good, right? Well no. Two problems at this point:

One) If you look at the picture of thw Laser Cut Walnut block, it doesn't look anything like the plan next to it. And it isn't. So I've raised a query with the supplier, but as yet, haven't heard back. I shall give them time.

2) A11. the Stern, was missing. I was certain I'd cut that out of the Laser cut Sheets.I couldn't find it. I'd labelled them all before I cut them out. I couldn't understand it, It was horrible. For two hous I was checking through the offcuts, the parts that the wife had tidied  away in her lovely attempts to clear more space for me and all the pieces you see laid out on the green cutting mat in the pictures above.

 

Finally I gave up and sat down to look through the pieces again, and the instruction manual. I'd also checked a few people's YouTube videos and the instructional videos, and decided to at least dry fit the parts where they were supposed to go. I'd deal with the missing Stern rib later.

 

However, on dry assembly I found I had two parts labelled A1- the false keel and another rib part. Could it possibly be? Yes, YES it was! In my labelling excitement I'd missed out a 1. This was, of course, somewhat frustrating, and now the wife is taunting me for it,

 

I then aligned all the pieces and glued things up. So here's the Dry Fit and the Glued versions. It's all mounted in this Polish Slip RIg which I found online (when I find the site for it I'll link it somewhere).

[MarcusWebb]

Finally for today I went to do deck planking. I was really confident with this part (falsely, as I think it transpires). I was taken back by the whole speed at which the Impact Adhesive dries. This is the thing I kind of struggled to cope with. As you'll see if you look closely at the pictures, I didn't manage to plank this as well as I had hoped. For at least 3 planks, I tried to re-lift them and re-lay them. This however, wound up with a couple of broken planks. It's easy for the experienced amongst you to spot this, and I imagine those with a Keen eye will spot it too.

 

However, for me, having now accepted it, I have decided it adds character to the deck. I've been on enough of the "older ladies of the sea" to know that the decking isn't perfect on them  and they've seen their fair share of damage and repair after the event. So here's where I called it quits for tonight.

[Cathead]

Nice start, and I think we've all been there at some point with frustration over a missing/lost part. As for adhesives, basic wood glue works quite well for most wood-on-wood contact and will give you a longer work time.

[Dazliare]

Watching this thread with keen interest. I plan to have Polaris be my first build as well

 

It looks great so far

[ibozev]

Hello Marcus, and welcome to MSW!

 

Currently I'm building the same kit but I'm a little bit further than you. I just finished reading your log and noticed one mistake on the very last photo. You didn't have to cut the extra deck planks, which are above the holes for the ribs. The idea is to hide the ribs with the deck. Actually I can't suggest you approach for fix, maybe someone with more practice will know. Next time just read the instructions more carefully. 🙂

[MarcusWebb]

20 hours ago, ibozev said:

Hello Marcus, and welcome to MSW!

 

Currently I'm building the same kit but I'm a little bit further than you. I just finished reading your log and noticed one mistake on the very last photo. You didn't have to cut the extra deck planks, which are above the holes for the ribs. The idea is to hide the ribs with the deck. Actually I can't suggest you approach for fix, maybe someone with more practice will know. Next time just read the instructions more carefully. 🙂

Damn it! You're right. 

 

I guess I just got carried away in the moment. Now the Deck is glued to the ribs, I could always go back and fix that, so depending on how things go when I next get to the model, I will see if I can cut out fiddly little pieces to cover up my error.

 

You live and learn, I guess. But thank you for making me go back to basics on this one. Should have figured because they were so difficult to cut out neatly when I did it.

 

Oh well, if not, Polaris will look a little different, I guess 😉

[MarcusWebb]

On with the build logs, then. My first problem was fixing the bulwarks. This wasn't quite so easy as I had expected. I realised I needed to sand the deck edges a bit more and although the photos in the instruction manual don't show any pins to hold things in place, in the Instructional videos they supply on YouTube, there are pins in place. So as things weren't as easy as I had hoped with this, I elected to use the pin method.

 

[MarcusWebb]

I didn't realise the stern board I had attached there would cause me so much of an issue, but I'd found out soon enough. I then went into the planking . I should probably have let things dry first but I was eager and you know how it is when you get the bit between your teeth. So I planked from the bulwarks down and the keel upwards

 

The keel upwards wasn't too much of an issue, but the planking from the bulwark down was a nightmare. Mostly because I really don't know what I'm doing. 😄 The problem was whilst I was pressing the upper planking next to the Bulwarks, I was inadvertently pressuring the pins and therefore I was pushing the deck up away from the framework I'd spent so much time to assemble.

 

[MarcusWebb]

If you look at the last picture on the post above, you'll see that there's tape over the stern board. That's because it kept popping loose. That drove me nuts. I should really have been more attentive, however, what I decided to do in the end was simply to re-glue it and to then leave it taped into position. I then left it overnight to set. Thus ended a slightly disappointing day as I had expected to get further along.

 

After leaving things overnight I finally got to it again this morning and began work on the remainder of the planking.

 

Today was the day my pin-pusher broke. It's also the day I managed to push it into my thumb (bloodstains visible in photographs if you care to look for them). It took me pretty much most of the day to plank up as per the photos below.

[MarcusWebb]

I had to trim up pieces to fit this model. Whether this is because I didn't know enough to do any better, or because I've mis-read things, I am not sure. This is about my build, though, isn't it? Doesn't mean that anyone else playing along is made to follow the way I did it. Here's the trimming I did and the eventual mount on the model.

 

[MarcusWebb]

Finally I worked my way around everything and "finished" planking the rest of the hull. I mean, you can look at it and see that it isn't finished, but you get the picture: The initial planking is nigh on complete. All that is left is for me to finalise the little missing pieces.

 

At this point I'm not entirely certain what my next steps are, but I think I am going to probably use wood filler on the hull to give it some substance, and sand that down to give the hull an overall relatively smooth finish, before the second planking over the top of this.

 

As it's only some 5 hours now until the Superbowl (and I'm a bit of a fan), I am stopping (also to let the glue dry) and letting things settle. If I manage to get up early enough tomorrow, I may well get to the point where I can apply filler and smooth things out from there.

 

Anybody's thoughts and comments are of course, welcome.

Edited February 13, 2022 by MarcusWebb
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[Cathead]

That approach (and lots of filler) works fine for the under-planking, which is just meant to provide a solid base for the outer planking, but I'd suggest reading some planking tutorials before tackling the outer layer. There are some concepts and skills that would really help you in the next step. Check out the relevant section on MSW for more. You might even consider making a bit of a false hull out of scrap material (think a few bulwarks on an easy keel) to test how to bend and shape planking before doing it on the real thing.

 

EDIT: I meant to add that I left some blood in my last project, too. Think of it as a signature to your work of art.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Cathead

[MarcusWebb]

10 hours ago, Cathead said:

That approach (and lots of filler) works fine for the under-planking, which is just meant to provide a solid base for the outer planking, but I'd suggest reading some planking tutorials before tackling the outer layer. There are some concepts and skills that would really help you in the next step. Check out the relevant section on MSW for more. You might even consider making a bit of a false hull out of scrap material (think a few bulwarks on an easy keel) to test how to bend and shape planking before doing it on the real thing.

 

EDIT: I meant to add that I left some blood in my last project, too. Think of it as a signature to your work of art.

Thanks Cathead - Yes, I am intent on checking the planking tutorials. I think bending for the false hull might have been easier if I'd had a tool, but probably I would not learn the important lessons. Here's to the next steps.

 

[VTHokiEE]

1 hour ago, MarcusWebb said:

if I'd had a tool

For me the most useful tool for plank bending has been a small travel iron. For other bending boiling water and wrapping around something cylindrical helps, or even clamp it on the model and let it cool and dry.

[MarcusWebb]

9 minutes ago, VTHokiEE said:

the most useful tool for plank bending has been a small travel iron.

 

VTHokiEE

 

Oddly enough, I was considering such a thing. The Plank Bending tool that one sees in so many videos look to me like some kind of amalgam of a Soldering Iron and a small paint pot. Not sure it is quite for me. If I manage to progress to the next stage, I will definitely be getting something, that's for sure.

 

[BranPie]

I can say that for the 0.6 mm strips you get in this kit for second planking, you don't need a tool. Edge bending proved impossible (the strips just twist) and in the other direction the strips bend very easily. 

 

That said, I'll be buying some kind of tool to aid in bending for my next build. Haven't been able to make my mind up on what to get though. I've thought about getting one of those adapted soldering irons and then buying some soldering tips to go along with it...2 tools in 1...

Edited February 14, 2022 by BranPie

[Cathead]

I have this tool and have found it useful, though I don't always use it. Most often I soak in warm water and then let dry while clamped to a form, either on the model itself or some other curved surface. But there are strong advocates for dry-bending (never using water, only heat). The tool doesn't keep you from learning anything about how to shape planks properly, it just helps apply heat in a way that eases the wood fibers into accepting your bend. The relevant skills in shaping the planks in the first place are needed regardless of what you use to achieve the goal.

 

The most important point, though, is to get your head around how planks will wrap around 3D surfaces. As you found, parallel lines of same-width planks simply won't work, despite what so many kits try to advise you to do. So they either need to be spiled (cut into non-linear shapes that actually follow the hull) or edge-bent (deformed into those same curves against the natural grain of the wood). 

 

It's a really fun skill once you get your head around it!

[gak1965]

9 minutes ago, Cathead said:

I have this tool and have found it useful, though I don't always use it. Most often I soak in warm water and then let dry while clamped to a form, either on the model itself or some other curved surface. But there are strong advocates for dry-bending (never using water, only heat). The tool doesn't keep you from learning anything about how to shape planks properly, it just helps apply heat in a way that eases the wood fibers into accepting your bend. The relevant skills in shaping the planks in the first place are needed regardless of what you use to achieve the goal.

 

The most important point, though, is to get your head around how planks will wrap around 3D surfaces. As you found, parallel lines of same-width planks simply won't work, despite what so many kits try to advise you to do. So they either need to be spiled (cut into non-linear shapes that actually follow the hull) or edge-bent (deformed into those same curves against the natural grain of the wood). 

 

It's a really fun skill once you get your head around it!

I tend to use the water approach as well, although the key there is to make sure it is dry before you mount the plank, otherwise you will get shrinkage and a gap as the water leaves. That said, I've made stern bulwark planks that have a 180 degree bend in them with no tool more complicated than a tea kettle and a small pan.

 

Regards,

George K

[MarcusWebb]

It's been a while since I last updated this and in between (aside from being busy as a very busy thing), I've taken the time to look at others' build logs for this model. From this I can state without fear of contradiction that I am in fact, a cack-handed jackanape. You'll soon see from the shameful photographic evidence that I lacked the basic patience in this instance to follow even the most simple of instructions and in my opinion, I fared only moderately worse than the instructions. 

That having been said I've fared considerably worse than others I see attempting this wonderful little boat. If you want to know how to do things properly, then look at their build logs, and for god's sake, use mine as an object lesson in what not to do.

 

I'd say that my first planking of the hull went fairly well, until I looked at others, and they all referenced Chuck Passaro's excellent guidance on how to plank a hull. Please, do yourselves a favour: go look at those highly instructional tutorials. They will serve you well. I can only wish that I'd bothered before I got myself stuck in. As you'll see from the last round of photos, there were some significant holes in the hull. So I decided to do what so many recommended here, and use filler. 

 

I should probably have researched that as well, because I went to it in much the same way as one lathers up for a good shave. Let me tell you right here and now, this is excessive. Want proof? OK Here you go.

That last picture shows my poor attempts to fill the last part of the hull that was open, It went fairly well except for that stern plate which kept falling off using PVA glue. I therefore sanded and re-fitted it later, in this case using Contact Adhesive. It has since sat there redoubt and strong, showing no inclination to shift. This pleases me because previously you just had to look at it for it to decide it was no longer part of the ship.

 

 

As you can tell I therefore needed to sand the model, and quite intensively to get back to just a hull. So I purchased a compact rotary tool (cordless) and proceeded to set about the model, in some vain attempt to rescue it. It wasn't easy.

 

Let's just say that when I next do a model, I will have a better tool to do this with than this one. It's durable, and the battery life is impressive, however the locking mechanism to enable you to change the bits burrs over too easily and now I can't change the tool bits at all. This is what guarantees are for, I guess.

So here's some sanding photos for you.

This took me the best part of a month to complete, mostly because I have to work, but also because we had other plans for most weekends. However, by this weekend, I'd managed to remove enough filler to proceed further.

 

This morning I've been outside again sanding to try to get the prow all sorted out along with finalizing that tricky 4mm stern. And I think it's been worthwhile. It's re-motivated me, even if only to try to get back into the habit of making models again. These sanding sessions have taught me to be more careful in future.

As you can tell from these pictures I didn't get the prow done at all well on one side although the other is passable. So now, having fixed up the stern, it was time to do that planking. Unlike others who freestyled it a bit more (I envy you your confidence), I elected to follow the plan. I believe I'm lacking the tools to make this up sensibly but nonetheless I persevered with a craft knife and managed a passable line for the planks to fit. So now they're glued on there, and I'm sat here typing this up waiting for the glue to dry.

Tomorrow I will sand these edges down and make this stern something to be as proud of as it is possible for an inept, ham-fingered poltroon such as I. I would say fingers crossed but I think that's probably how I managed to get in this state in the first place....

 

Onward to better things!

[sticker]

Hi Marcus      don't get too disheartened with your model    you've  learned a lot so far   , planking is probably the hardest part for a beginner to atempt  we all had to go through this at the start   and as with  everything in  life some people are better than others at certain things   ,you're next model will be better    .my first model  was billing boats VASA    Waaaay to much for me,    got binned   never went near models again for around twenty years    then restarted  but with something smaller and a bit easier     and carried on from there    so don't worry it will all work  out in the end      stick it out                      cheers    sticker

[Ryland Craze]

Thanks Marcus for sharing your build with us.  Each ship model you build is a learning experience and your skills will improve with each model built.  I am sure that you can see where you could improve your planking process. I would not give up on this model.  Completing it will increase your knowledge base and help you build better models in the future.  Good luck on this build and do not hesitate to ask questions on this forum if you need help.  We are here to help and support you in your modeling efforts.

 

[Cathead]

Glad you checked out the planking tutorials and looking forward to seeing your skills progress! You'll end up with something you're happy to display.

[MarcusWebb]

Thanks all for your kind words of support. It truly means a lot to me. I will persevere, even if only to set a preliminary benchmark for my skillset, which I can review over time and say, "Look how far I've progressed!" 

 

I'm already contemplating purchasing a few half-hulls just to practice planking and making sure the next boat at least looks like it would stay afloat and be worthy of the name "Unsinkable II".

 

More details as and when I'm back on the modelling, however, I have Formula 1, Gardening, and a visiting Grandson who is staying overnight to deal with in the upcoming weekends so it may be a little while yet.

Thanks again to all who have commented right from the start until now. Your support is appreciated!