USS Maine by ERSRich - FINISHED - BlueJacket Shipcrafters - 3/32

[ERS Rich]

More Rigging

 

Rigged the aft mast derrick with this setup.

Then installed it on the ship.

The round nose pliers make “S” hooks easy.

Foremast rigging is coming along.

 

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by ERS Rich

[Rick310]

Beautiful work!!!!

Rick

[ERS Rich]

Rigging -Continued

 

At this point the standing and running rigging associated with the masts is installed but not belayed - tied off.

 

Sun in the shop this afternoon put light on the subject.

 

Have a good weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ERS Rich]

Forward Superstructure Rigging

 

Finished the forward rig and started the railings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[aliluke]

There is nothing not to like about this! Seriously good - an amazing ship wonderfully rendered. I look forward to your finish line.

[ERS Rich]

On 9/20/2023 at 5:33 AM, aliluke said:

There is nothing not to like about this!

Hello in New Zealand!  Thank you, for the encouragement.  Oct 4 will be one year, and it looks like I’ll finish by then, outside of the case.  Looking forward to building several 1/32 aircraft.  Nice break from so much construction.
 

Rigging the cranes tomorrow, then just the companionways to construct, and finally the scroll details.

 

Cheers Alistair

[ERS Rich]

Aft Boat Davits

 

Rigged the davits, and radial davits this week.

 

I like to get everything in place, to make sure everything fits before tying off the lines. Just love how this is looking.

 

Made a little jig to help place the davits.

 

 

[Rick310]

Really great!!!

Rick

[schooner]

Wonderful work! Very clean and neat.

Are you going to build or buy the case?

[ERS Rich]

1 hour ago, schooner said:

Are you going to build or buy the case?

Good Morning,

 

Will make the case, thinking of cherry hardwood and probably plexiglass panels to minimize the weight.  Need to source a sheet of cherry faced plywood.   I have some Kusmi #1 button shellac that looks nice on cherry (shellac.net).

 

Have a good weekend.

 

-Rich

[ERS Rich]

Accommodation Ladder and Railings

 

Here's how the accommodation ladder install went.  Two brass rods under the top platform.  Using the bit as a weight on the lower platform for tension in the block ropes, then liquid CA on the ropes.  Added the U shaped rod, seems to make sense, may redo it seems a little out of scale.

 

Railing install pretty straight forward - use little dots of CA in the corners instead of along the bottom of the whole piece.

 

 

 

 

 

[yvesvidal]

7 hours ago, ERS Rich said:

 Using the bit as a weight on the lower platform for tension in the block ropes, then liquid CA on the ropes.  Added the U shaped rod, seems to make sense, may redo it seems a little out of scale.

Something I learnt from the experts in this forum, is to not use CA glue on the ropes, but diluted PVA glue instead. It will retain exactly the shape that you gave the ropes and will keep the soft and realistic look of the ropes. Try it, you will be surprised how well it works.

 

Yves

Edited October 6, 2023 by yvesvidal

[ERS Rich]

53 minutes ago, yvesvidal said:

Try it, you will be surprised how well it works.

I will, thank you Yves!

[Azzoun]

acrylic matte medium works pretty well too on ropes  

[Rick310]

I find that Matt medium works well and is easy to use.

Great Job!!!

Rick

[ERS Rich]

Home Stretch

 

It’s getting down to it.  Not many more tasks to do.  The heavy lifting is over.

 

Here is a shot of the bow ornaments.  Followed by the entire ship with the main deck stanchions installed.

 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by ERS Rich

[aliluke]

WOW!!! WOW!!! That is a triumph, reflecting your skills and the quality of the kit. Brilliant from all angles.

[ERS Rich]

15 hours ago, aliluke said:

Brilliant from all angles.

Hi Alistair,

 

Thank you very much for the kind words.  Yes, this kit had everything needed to produce a fine model of the Maine.  At the end, I’ll post thoughts on  some things to be careful about when building this kit.

 

And I do have another USS Maine kit that I’d consider selling along with USS Olympia if anyone is interested they can private message me.  Given the price of shipping someone would have to be within driving distance!

 

Cheers!

 

-Rich

[aliluke]

I'd buy one but given the driving distance, I have to pass. I lived on Cape Cod three times - South Dennis, Dennis Port - working in a fish market and as a stern man on a lobster boat out of Harwich Port fishing in Nantucket Sound with Harry Hunt Jr. (a legend) on the Gertrude H.

 

Cape Cod would be a drive away but was thirty years ago. Postage is a killer...

[ERS Rich]

Various Photos

 

Flag on the aft jack.  Prefer to heavily crumple the paper flag.  Also touched up white area on the stern.

 

 

Finished up the hawse lips and bow ornaments.

 

 

Views of the main deck stanchions.  Line is bass wire, tried thread but to difficult to pass through the stanchion eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2023 by ERS Rich

[ERS Rich]

Finished and Epilog

 

Making the call that she’s finished since the minor work remaining won’t impact any pictures.  Look for photos of her cased in the gallery, probably in a month or so.  Here as a panoramic photo taken with my iPhone.

 

 

Epilog

 

What an experience.  The kit has everything needed out of the box to build a beautiful rendition of the ship.  The plans are good and I found the instruction booklet easy to follow.  And there are many extra PE parts to cover mistakes.

 

One comment about the plans is to understand that parts, say eyebolts are identified with a number and symbol.  The eyebolt symbol appears in each location on the plan, however each symbol does not have a number.

 

Notice that a part can be identified by looking on the plan, and in the bill of material in the instruction book.  The bill of materials is divided by material type (wood, brass, casting, etc), then part name and quantity.  If the instructions call to install a part and you do not know what that part looks like, find it’s name on the bill of material, ID what it’s made of, and the quantity, then look in the sealed bag for a quantity match.  I also found the photos at the end of the instructions book helpful for identifying the smaller amidship stacks.

 

Pay attention to part and component spacing, on the amidships superstructure in particular.  Notice the center hatch on the amidships superstructure does not have a coaming, I added it to my model and much later found my stack spacing was slightly off.  Much is happening on the amidships superstructure so make sure the components are spaced according to the plan.  

 

Last is part numbering, I did find a few inconsistencies between the booklet and plan.  Not a big deal.

 

Not much else to say other than it certainly is worth the effort.  I’d say anyone who has a few kits under their belt, can take it on.  That being said finishing is a major effort, an airbrush is suggested.  My ship is finished with Tamiya and Vallejo acrylics.

 

Finally Bluejacket is immediately available if you have a question.  Just give them a call.

 

Best of luck if you take this on.  Feel free to message me if you have a question.

Edited October 27, 2023 by ERS Rich

[JacquesCousteau]

Great job!

[aliluke]

Stunning! Thanks for sharing your great log. I'd love to try one but shipping puts it out of reach...

[Keith Black]

 Congratulations, Rich. It's an amazing and pleasing model. 

[Ryland Craze]

Congratulations on finishing your Maine.  I have really enjoyed following your build log.

[Canute]

Excellent build, Rich. And the same goes for your log.  👍

[ccoyle]

Congratulations, Rich, on completing your superb model!

[mtaylor]

Congratulations, Rich.  You done a real beauty on this.

[Rick310]

Great model, great result and great blog!!!

I have really enjoyed following along. It’s been quite a journey.  Congratulations on a job well done!!’

Rick

[ERS Rich]

Thanks everyone, the feedback is much appreciated.

 

On to some plastic subjects for a while…..

 

Holidays are coming up, enjoy yours!

 

-Rich