Charles W Morgan by Dsmith20639 - Model Shipways - 1:64

[Dsmith20639]

I bought my kit of the Charles W. Morgan many years ago and quickly realized that it was way beyond my capabilities. I purchased it at the Mystic Seaport store at full price at the time of $225.00 (now $400.00) to give you an idea of how long ago that was. Now with several successful? builds under my belt I decided to gradually start the Morgan up again. I had previously gotten to the stage of cutting the rabbet and mounting some of the bulkheads and at some stage noticed that I had added one of the bulkheads in the wrong order.  I successfully removed the bulkheads in error but on moving to my current residence a couple of years ago the semi constructed framework was damaged and the keel lost in the transit. I used the laser cut panel I still had that the keel was part of as spare wood as a template and wood to fabricate a new keel. I am in the process of using my build board (which I didn't have at the time I first started) to rebuild the hull framework.  Also one of the bulkheads was slightly warped over the years. These are photos of the current stage of the build process.

 

[Dsmith20639]

Continuing work on Charles W. Morgan. Faired the hull. Added the counter block, the stem and stern filler blocks, the waterway, planksheer, and most of the bulwark stanchions. Fortunately I had previously downloaded the build log from TEXXN5's web site before it disappeared. It has been a great help so far.

 

Edited February 27, 2022 by Dsmith20639
Additional info.

[Dsmith20639]

Installed main rail. Bent log rail at stem by soaking rail pieces and using my plank bending iron to approximate shape and then secured to main rail over night until completely dry and conforming to shape. Then I glued the log rail in place.

 

 

 

[dogface]

Hey D,

 

looks great so far!  I'm building the CWM as well and am at about the same place as you.

 

Where did you get the building slip?  It looks really versatile!

 

Jon

[Dsmith20639]

Search for Hobbyzone, professional building slip in forums.

I don't remember were I got it from, but it was on sale at the time at a site I found online. 

[dogface]

Great, thank you--

[Dsmith20639]

installed the topgallant rail.

 

 

Began planking the bulwarks. The small size of the planking strips and the inconsistencies in the stanchion positions is making this part of the planking process a little frustrating.Looking forward to getting to the hull proper.

 

[Landlubber Mike]

The framing of the bulwarks is a big step, really nice job.  The inside face of the bulwark planking becomes the bulwark planking seen from inboard, so make suer that you are happy with your planking.  Not sure that you can use filler, etc. unless you are planning to paint it all.

[Dsmith20639]

Thanks for the encouragement. I plan on painting the ship and coppering the bottom so hopefully the paint will subdue the flaws that occur during construction.

[Dsmith20639]

Completed planking and filling of the bulwarks and part of the transom. Painted the bulwarks. Still need to fill  some areas that I reopened while sanding, etc. Began planking the sides above the wale. Using suggested plank lengths that cover four bulkheads at a time.

 

[Dsmith20639]

Planking finished down to the level of the wales, sanded and given a coat of black paint. Lined off hull into four belts to begin the remainder of the hull planking.

 

[Dsmith20639]

I installed the first 4 strakes in belt 'A'. Each plank spanning 5 bulkheads as shown in the plans.  I am edge gluing each plank to the previous strake with PVA glue and to each bulkhead with CA. This lets me fit each plank in place without clamps by holding the plank in place until the CA takes hold, which is about 15-30 seconds. I'm not getting consistent curvature when bending the planks at the bow so I will need to do some filling there when finished planking.  I didn't line off the port side as I'm assuming the sides are sufficiently symmetrical so that the widths and shapes of the corresponding planks on the other side are close enough to being the same. I'll take measurements as I go along to confirm this and make adjustments when needed. Here's hoping I'm not far off. This is not my primary build so the planking will be going slow as time allows.

[Dsmith20639]

Completed planks of belt 'A'.  Rough at stem and stern ends so will require a bit of filler.

[Dsmith20639]

Continuing planking, about halfway there.

 

[Dsmith20639]

Completed planking of one side of hull (port). Need to finish planking of the other side, then sand and fill to follow. Looks like I need to do a better job getting my planking butts closer.  Should probably cut them initially too long, test fit, and then sand to get a more exact fit before installing. Filler will make the gaps less visible, especially after being painted black and the lower portion covered by the bottom coppering.

[Dsmith20639]

Completed hull planking. Filled and sanded. Still have some minor cleanup to do at bow and stern. Next up is to make the fashion pieces for the stern.

 

[Dsmith20639]

This is what I came up with for the stern fashion piece. I know it's not right. But every photo of the real ship and/or model I was able to find I could still not picture it because of the black on black coloring in the photos. Since only a handful of people will see the completed model and the part itself will be black on a black hull it will have to do for now. If anyone can provide me with a better representation of what the part should look like I can try to replace it before the ship is completed. Too bad the kit couldn't include a plastic or cast metal fitting for the part as I found it impossible visualize. I was on the real ship years ago when I bought the kit itself at Mystic Seaport. 

 

 

 

[Bob Cleek]

These two shots are from my research collection. They may be of help to you if you don't have anything better. It appears to simply be a flat trim piece that doesn't bend at the bottom.

 

 

 

[Dsmith20639]

Thanks, looks simpler than what I came up with,  or even the construction manual's depiction.

[Dsmith20639]

Replaced the fashion pieces with a simpler construction as seen in the previous post. Forgot to take picture. Anyway continuing with planking the deck.

[Dsmith20639]

Didn't do much this week as I spent most of my time on the Glad Tidings, but I did manage to add a few more deck planks.

[Dsmith20639]

Finished planking the deck, sanded and applied two coats of wipe on poly. Drew the waterline and fabricated the bowsprit.

 

[Dsmith20639]

Been a while, finally got back to this ship and mounted the bowsprit.

 

[Dsmith20639]

I added bowsprit bitts, anchor deck framework, catheads, fittings, hawse pipes, moorings chocks, etc.