Nonsuch 30 by SteveA - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:24 - catboat

[SteveA]

Having built the Model Shipways shipwright beginner kits by David Antscherl, I thought I’d try out the latest kit by Antscherl being offered by Model shipways, the Nonsuch 30 catboat in 1:24.  I just started the hull planking, up to this point the build process has been rather straightforward for a plank on bulkhead kit.  

 

However, the start of the planking process has not gone smoothly.  The Garboard plank is the first one to be placed on the bulkheads.  I could not get the plank to lay smoothly on the bulkheads and keep the precut holes lined up with holes in the spine.  The next two pictures show how warped the plank turned out.  I will have to remove this plank and reapply it.

My solution was to cut the plank into 4 pieces and lay them individually.  I just had to sand the edges of the pieces a little to get a good fit.  The bulkheads are rather thick, so this worked out ok.  We’ll see how the following planks lay down.

 

[druxey]

It appears that the fairing over the sixth bulkhead from the bow needs further beveling. There should not be an angle to the garboard in the area where you have cut it. Check it out.

[SteveA]

On 11/23/2022 at 6:27 AM, druxey said:

It appears that the fairing over the sixth bulkhead from the bow needs further beveling. There should not be an angle to the garboard in the area where you have cut it. Check it out.

I understand what you are seeing, but I think it is more an issue of the way the plank was cut and laid on the bulkhead and the camera angle.  The plank did not lay across the bulkhead in an arc as a continuous plank would.  I was not too worried about how the planks looked as they would be covered with wood filler and smoothed out to simulate a fiberglass hull.

[SteveA]

After several rounds of filling, sanding, and spraying with acrylic paint, the hull is more or less completed.  I had a few issues laying down the laser cut planks and had to add scrap wood to get complete coverage of the hull.  Also, the top plank was not long enough so I used some scrap wood to get complete coverage.

 

 

Here are the two hull halves with complete planking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 6, 2023 by SteveA

[SteveA]

Hull halves prior to joining, I switched to white wood filler after using up the natural color, hence the color differences between the halves.  I used Dap plastic wood and had good experiences with it.

 

Joining the hull halves:

 

Further smoothing of the complete hull, there was a small gap that I filled with scrap wood at the seam along the bottom of the hull:

 

Several rounds of filling, sanding and priming:

 

 

Finished hull ready for painting:

 

 

 

[druxey]

That worked out well for you, Steve. It usually takes several rounds of filler to get a nice surface such as yours.

[bobandlucy]

Nice work!

[SteveA]

The fin, propeller post, and rudder are shaped and installed using epoxy for extra strength.  The seam around the fin was filled with scrap wood and wood filler and then sanded smooth.

I built the base to temporarily hold the model with the fin and rudder installed.  I had to use epoxy to hold the posts in the base, wood glue was not strong enough to hold the weight of the model.

I started construction of the cockpit, it looks like there will be a good bit of shaping and fitting the various pieces to get a smooth looking cockpit.  

For example, a shim will be needed behind the seat walls for proper support:

 

I’ll post another update once the cockpit is completed.

[druxey]

Coming along very nicely! Your methodical approach is paying off well.

[SteveA]

Thanks druxey!  I added index card shims to the seat supports to bring them up to the level of the seat fronts.  They were of varying heights but all were lower than the seat fronts so the thin index cards worked nicely as I was able to use a different number of shims on each support as needed.

The seats were placed along with the seat backs and seat rails.

There are a few issues with the position of the seat backs and rail that I will have to address,  The holes for the hinges are too far back on the side seats as can be seen in the picture below.

I also don’t like the large gap between the edge of the deck and the seat rail.  This will make placement of the outside wall very awkward.

I figured a new approach was needed to tackle the cabin and cockpit walls so I removed the seat rails and seat backs and will try again, probably by moving the rail out to accommodate the hinges on the lockers and better support the outer wall.  I’ll try to detail this in the next post…

[druxey]

Yes, some adjustment is needed for this to articulate properly. Does the port side seat back sit as it should?

 

Certainly you are taking care: the use of shims nicely demonstrated!

[SteveA]

Yes, both cockpit sidewalls had to be adjusted to accommodate the hinges.  The cockpit was reworked by bringing the walls out, this took a bit of trial and error of fitting pieces, adding shims where needed, and re-creating a few pieces from scrap.  The cockpit and cabin sidewalls are in place now.

 

 

Placement of the front cabin walls was particularly challenging as the wall pieces have to be bent around the front curve.  This would have been much easier if the front wall parts were run against the grain instead of with the grain.  After struggling with one side, I cut out the other side from scrap with vertical grain and had a much easier time.  This could have easily been done by the manufacturer by swapping the front cabin wall pieces with the cockpit seat backs on the cut out sheet.  I’m wondering if this was originally intended and just didn’t make it to the final layout.

 

For me, there was a lot fiddling with the placement of the cabin walls until I got something that I thought looked right with the windows lined up in a row.

 

Placement of the ceiling was rather straightforward which is composed of three pieces.

I had placed the rudder earlier as instructed but it got knocked loose while installing the cockpit and cabin.  My advice would be to leave installation of the rudder until after hull is glued to the base, otherwise there is a good chance it will get knocked or broken off during the construction of the cabin and cockpit.  Fortunately, mine was only knocked loose and can be glued back in place.

 

[bobandlucy]

Nice recovery with the cockpit walls! The boat is coming together nicely. There are a couple of challenges left, but it looks like you are more than capable of dealing with them, and will end up with a model you will be proud to display.

 

Bob

[druxey]

You certainly are overcoming the difficulties of this model. Nice work!

[SteveA]

I finally have a paint scheme for this model with some input from family members.  It looks interesting at least:

 

Working on main mast now.  The kit provides a nice jig to get to “eight-square”.  I used a no. 100 plane which makes some nice shavings!

 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by SteveA

[bobandlucy]

Nice painting!

The mast is fun, isn't it? As is the wishbone.

[SteveA]

Thanks! Yes, the wishbone was a fun little build.  I just started outfitting the main mast.

 

 

 

[SteveA]

Still making slow progress on this kit.  I have just about all the hull and cabin fittings attached and the main mast and wishboom are ready to be installed. 

The anchor is attached to a chain with a shackle which need to be made. I found these to be rather challenging to fabricate.  You have to flatten some 18 gauge wire in order to drill small holes in the ends to pass 24 gauge wire.

 

This is my first success, the model requires 4 to be made in all.

[bobandlucy]

Nice work! Cockpit is looking great.

 

b

 

Edited November 7, 2023 by bobandlucy

[druxey]

You are doing a great job on this challenging build, Steve.

[SteveA]

Thanks! I appreciate the support and positive comments on this build.  I’m in the home stretch now, with commencement of the rigging starting with the hanger and choker lines:

[ccoyle]

You were making great progress on this! Dis you get it wrapped up?

[hollowneck]

Steve, a very nice model indeed. Will you be adding sails?

[Rick310]

Very nice build!

Rick

[SteveA]

Yes! I completed the model a few months back.  It is proudly sitting on the dining room mantle along with a few other David Antscherl designed kits.  Thanks for asking, here are a few pics:

 

Here is my collection in order of construction from left to right…

 

[ccoyle]

Lovely fleet!

[druxey]

Very well done indeed, Steve! Congratulations on a complete (I almost wrote 'string') quartet. Now you have the skills for even more advanced models. What's next?

[SteveA]

I have an Occre Xebec kit started that I am building more or less out of the box.  Longer term build is a scratch 1:48 Syren brig using Chuck’s excellent instructions.  I have a pile of cherry scraps and cut offs from furniture builds that I plan to use, we’ll see how it goes…