HMS Wolf 1754 by catopower - Shipyard - 1/72 - CARD - 10-gun Brig

[catopower]

 

Today is Saturday, and our ship model club, The South Bay Model Shipwrights, met at our usual location at the Game Kastle shop in Santa Clara, CA, at the south end of the San Francisco Bay. It was a good meeting, and we have four out of the seven people out of the members in attendance that have built paper models. Three of us have built, or are building paper ship models.

Maybe it was that, or I don't know what, but I've just gotten so jazzed up about these Shipyard laser-cut kits that I'm just so ready to go out and get another one or two, so I can start working on them as soon as HMS Wolf is done. And, that's coming from someone who loves building wooden sailing ship models.

 

I actually have two of Shipyards "Super Modeler Plans" sets. These are plans for scratch building models, but they include all the laser-cut frameworks for the hull, as well as the inner hull covering, decks and planking, inner bulwarks pieces, to start the model. The idea is that the modeler can then use materials of his or her choice to cover the model with a final planking layer, then scratch build all their own details, armament, masts and spars, etc.

 

I'm absolutely itching to try building ones of these. But, they are limited edition sets, 150 of each were made, and I have HMS Enterprize no. 47 of 150 and Spanish Frigate Santa Leocadia no. 100 of 125 copies. When I start these, that's it, they're gone, and I really don't want to screw them up or leave them unfinished. 

 

They are made to be built at 1/72 scale, like my HMS Wolf kit, and I even have extra detail parts sets that were produced for them by GPM, which includes cannon carriages, hatch coamings, capstans, ship's wheel, mast tops, galley stove, and various cross bitts.

 

I kind of feel like I should maybe build Shipyard's HMS Mercury kit first. It's not cheap, but it is complete, and might give me a better handle on building these "semi-kits". 

In the meantime, I'm now working on rigging the yard arms on HMS Wolf. So, here are some pics of that.

 

 

Edited Monday at 07:17 AM by catopower

[Jsk]

Looking very good. Makes me want to start yet another project. I've not tried a Shipyard model yet but I'm so tempted. But, I don't think I've quite developed the skill set yet.

 

Liquitex and Aleene's... What more does a modeler need? Well... maybe some sort of blade.

[catopower]

Jeff, they're not very different from Seahorse kits, and you've obviously done a terrific job with that U.S. Revenue Cutter of yours!

 

 

 

Edited Monday at 02:37 AM by catopower

[catopower]

By the way, here is one of the Super Modeler Plan Sets and the beginnings of the Spanish 34-gun frigate Santa Leocadia.

 

I put together this much of the hull several years ago, to see how it goes together, but I didn't have any of the paper model experience or skills necessary to take on a task of this sort. It's really a set of scratch builder plans, with some parts provided to start off on the model.

 

 

Shipyard re-released a 1/96-scale paper model kit of this same ship. I have that too. In many cases, I should be able to scan and scale up any parts I may need for this 1/72 scale model. So, I could try to take this on.

 

As I already mentioned, I also have the super plans set for HMS Enterprize as well. This is almost identical to HMS Mercury, of which Shipyard also makes a big 1/72 scale kit, but it's something like $450. Still, all the parts are laser cut, and I wouldn't be risking this rare sper plans set. 

 

Anyway, just thought I'd share. HMS Wolf construction continues...

[ccoyle]

5 hours ago, catopower said:

here is one of the Super Modeler Plan Sets and the beginnings of the Spanish 34-gun frigate Santa Leocadia

 

This is essentially what wood modelers have been asking for for years, i.e., a plan set and set of bulkheads to get a build started.

[catopower]

This weekend, I finally made progress stropping deadeyes. I made my own fixtures for this, as you can see in the photos. A wire is is wrapped around it, and I use small, bent nose pliers to squeeze the wire around the post and metal plate. The excess wire is then cut off and the deadeye is fitted inside.

In the last photos, you can see the masts are temporarily installed. I drill out the base of masts so I could glue in a section of a straight pin into each. The pin will push into the center backbone of the model when the masts are inserted into place. This helps hold the masts in place.

 

The instructions call for installing temporary stays, which you can see in at least one photo. These white lines will be removed later. For now, these will provide the main support for the masts while I work on the shrouds and on getting the correct angle for the chainplates, which attach to the deadeye stropping and secure the deadeyes agains the pull of the shrouds, which will also get installed later.