Mayflower by tj456 - 1/19 scale

[tj456]

Hello all!  I have built real boats from scratch but this is my 1st model scratchbuild.  I chose the Mayflower since it has pleasing curves and colors, and also being a 16th century ship hopefully the rigging won't be that complex.  I saw a very large model of an aircraft carrier at the Smithsonian and have loved large models since.  After a couple of 1-200 models (Titanic, USS Missouri, Bismarck) and 2 Model Shipways kits (Constitution, Bluenose) I decided to go really big and build in 1-19th scale.  Why 1-19th?  I bought 1-76 scale plans and blew them up 400% which gives 1-19 scale and a 6 ft person around a 4 inch height.  This is the bulkhead assembly:

20220624_171209.heic

[Baker]

Scale 1/16 

Wow, i follow

[tj456]

I was dissatisfied with the bulkhead situation - mainly the lines and weight.  So I scrapped it and built a new keel and am using ribs instead of bulkheads like a real ship.  I have found I have far greater control over the lines and curvatures.20220718_161909.heic

I cant get the pic to upload - i'll play with it

[tj456]

Got it!

20220718_161909.heic

[tj456]

I had a couple of bulkhead pieces left over so I bought some doll house windows and got some stern work done.

20220724_183525.heic

[tj456]

20220725_132304 (1).heic 20220725_183601 (1).heic

[mtaylor]

HELC is nor  good file format for most internet sites including this one.  It an MS format that nots used by most people and is  specific to Windows.  Can you convert those images to JPG?

[modeller_masa]

Actually, the heic is one of the failed successors of the JPEG format first adopted by Apple. There are so many tombs of JPEG successor because of compatibility issues.

 

tj456, I recommend you change your cellphone's file save setting to JPEG. 

 

 

 

[tj456]

My android phone gallery settings look totally different than the above video.  Thanks anyway.  computers.....

[tj456]

Test.  OK it   took me awhile as my computer skills are lacking...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tj456]

Stern pictures

[tj456]

Planking started on the port side.  I was going to plank both sides at once but resting the model on the thin ribs to plank the starboard side was a no go.

[tj456]

I'm using 1/16 inch thick basswood strips for planking and pre-painting things to create clean paint lines.  The stripes are 1/8 x 1/8 inch.  At this point the model is about 60 inches long.

[mtaylor]

Thanks for the effort on the photos.   Looking good.  For planking, I'll turn the hull upside down on some those plastic food storage containers with a towel or two over the containers.  Seems to work for me, but then I'm doing smaller scale builds.

[tj456]

Yes I'm getting to the point where the hull should be inverted for planking.  luckily it's big enough that I can do both hull planking and topside work simultaniously.   But since i'm on a roll I may as well finish the side 1st.  I have also added the portside prow below where the spinnaker goes.  The model is now 70 inches long.

[tj456]

Just for reference I am submitting a picture of the Mayflower replica which is docked in Plymoth, MA.  I have been aboard and took this pic, along with about 70 more for this build.

[tj456]

[tj456]

Finished the port side forecastle and some work towards the stern.

[tj456]

Now the entire port side is more or less complete.

[tj456]

I also added some temporary masts and spinnaker just to get an idea of how big this thing is going to be.  The final length will be 81  inches.

[tj456]

While waiting for glue to dry I made the hatch grates.

[tj456]

Since I finished the hatches I went ahead and laid the deck

[tj456]

I forgot to post this one...

[tj456]

I'm now working down the portside hull.  The Mayflower didn't carry much weaponry so the easy way was to just glue gun port covers on to the hull.  The hinges are simply 1/16 x 1/16 strips glued to a 1/16 x 1/8 piece of scrap.  It looks good and was cheap and easy.  The hull planking is proving to be more difficult than the smaller models I have built in the past.  You really have to taper most planks but still maintain the lines for ease of the next row.  Luckily I have a large stationary belt sander which makes this easier.

 

Any tips on planking or any other issues would be greatly appreciated as this is a 1st for me.

[TOM G]

You want to pay attention to the garboard plank........ check this out  https://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/plankingprojectbeginners.pdf   

[tj456]

An interesting article and thanks.  I did the tapers to a point because it was easy on the big belt sander.  Here's what the end results came out looking like:

[tj456]

The bow did not come out as well as the stern but some serious sanding and spackle fixed my mistakes.  Hopefully the learning curve will increase for the starboard side.

[tj456]

Now that the port side is mostly complete I have turned my attention to the starboard side.  This picture gives a good view of the inside of the port side and is a good start point for the jig I made for the ribs.  The port side ribs were just tensioned and bent but I had to clean up minor errors to make the lines flow nicely.

[tj456]

The 1st pic is the jig with ribs on it.  The 2nd pic is the ribs out of the jig after 36 hours.  I soaked the ribs in water for 6 hours, put them on the jig, and took my wife's iron and ironed them for a couple of minutes.  My size 11 shoe is in the picture for scale but they are all 18 inches long.

[tj456]

Here are the starboard ribs installed.  I put the middle one in 1st and then stretched a temporary strip from it to both the bow and stern for reference to get the curves right.