Lady Isabella by Woodartist - Vanguard Models - 1/64 - 80 foot Zulu

[woodartist]

As a newbie, I made a Newbie mistake, I was given a Model Shipways kit for the USS Constitution. Despite a lot of advice to the contrary I started in. I got quite a ways before I realized I had made enough mistakes that impacted the ability to finish it successfully. I trashed it, and started a scratch build, I have worked on it for two months and so far all is well, in large part due to the build logs of Der Alta Rentner, MTBediz, and JSGerner,  however, I need a break from the Conny. So I looked for another boat to build that was more suitable to a Novice. The reviews and build logs for the Lady Isabella were interesting and I thought they would give me some needed experience before I started planking the main hull of the Conny. I will not replicate the excellent build logs of DB789, James H, and Blue Ensign but will make some comments from a Novice perspective. The instructions by Chris Watton, Vanguard Models have excellent pictures and precise steps and language. Instruction #3 should include a note that part #58 when installed needs to extend beyond the superstructure. If you were to put it upside down, the panels 56 and 57 would not be flush with the top of #58. That is a mistake, I probably would have made if I had not had so many mistakes on Conny 1. If you dry fit all the 4 parts prior to gluing that becomes obvious. The bulk heads are precisely laser cut and the bevels are premarked. Although the instruction 5, advises to fit and glue the bulkheads in place on the keel, I would recommend that after you have beveled 1-3 and 12-14 bulkheads, dry fit them and then, bevel parts 16-19, and dry fit them with the three fore bulkhead and three aft bulkheads before gluing in the bulkheads. The aft bulkhead fillers are extremely fragile. Other build logs indicated that the builders had broken the filler pieces so I took that to heart and used a thin file and filed them so that they fit smoothly. None of them broke. I then dry fit all the remaining bulkheads, but did not glue them. I dry fit the Lower Floor and the  Upper Floor, then turned the keel upside down and glued in the remaining unglued bulkheads. That ensured the bulkheads were perfectly fit. Once all the bulkheads glue-up had dried I glued in Lower Floor and The Bottom Floor. So far it is a pleasure to work on this new boat.

 

 

[Der Alte Rentner]

19 hours ago, woodartist said:

As a newbie, I made a Newbie mistake, I was given a Model Shipways kit for the USS Constitution. Despite a lot of advice to the contrary I started in. I got quite a ways before I realized I had made enough mistakes that impacted the ability to finish it successfully. I trashed it, and started a scratch build, I have worked on it for two months and so far all is well, in large part due to the build logs of Der Alte Rentner, MTBediz, and JSGerner,  however, I need a break from the Conny. So I looked for another boat to build that was more suitable to a Novice.

Say it isn't so!  I was counting on you, as the only other Newbie, to keep me company on my build of the Constitution.  Not having seen a post from you in a while, I did a look-see, and learned you've abandoned ship.  That is sad news to me, but I'll follow this build to see how you fare.  

 

Best of luck on the new build.

and Happy New Year.

Peter (aka Der Alte Rentner)

[woodartist]

Do not worry my friend, This will only take me about a month to finish. I will be back to Conny2 soon. I am determined to finish her, but my mind needed a rest.

[woodartist]

I finished the fairing and inserted the extra blocks on bulkhead 7 that supports planking. I must have bought one of the early models because my parts numbers are not consistent with the instruction manual. I glued the center section of the keel. The little block clamps work really well.

[DB789]

18 hours ago, woodartist said:

I finished the fairing and inserted the extra blocks on bulkhead 7 that supports planking. I must have bought one of the early models because my parts numbers are not consistent with the instruction manual. I glued the center section of the keel. The little block clamps work really well.

Looking good. 
 

I think that the numbers were wrong on these parts in my Zulu kit too, but clear enough what parts went where from the photos in the manual. Funny that this was the Vanguard fishing boat that i was the least interested in building, but now she is complete she is one of my favourites…

[woodartist]

5 hours ago, DB789 said:

Looking good. 
 

I think that the numbers were wrong on these parts in my Zulu kit too, but clear enough what parts went where from the photos in the manual. Funny that this was the Vanguard fishing boat that i was the least interested in building, but now she is complete she is one of my favourites…

Dan, This boat has been fun and a really well thought out kit with precision materials. It will certainly not been my last Vanguard fishing boat.

[DB789]

They’re fantastic kits and the end result looks so good even when built by someone with limited model making skills such as me. That’ll be why I’m currently building my sixth Vanguard fishing boat and eighth Vanguard boat. 

[woodartist]

The keel set up is great and the wood clamps in the kit make application of the keel easy and accurate.

[woodartist]

Bulkhead frame installed and 1st row of planking. This is a double plank hull, and the 1st layer is limewood and the second layer will be pear wood.

Used Chuck's method of bending planks with travel iron, so far it has worked great.

[woodartist]

Started the planking,  I watched the three videos of Chuck P, on how to plank, bought a small travel iron, set up  plank bending station and successfully bent my first planks. It went better than expected. I bent a few brass pins before I got that figured out.

[woodartist]

First hull planking completed on one side,  the last plank installed was cut to fit from a piece of cherry, I had laying around. It was a hair thicker than the 1mm lime wood but it will easily sand smooth when fry. This was my first planking experience and I learned a lot. Still have not figured out ticking completely but I have managed to get it done without any major gaps.

[woodartist]

The first hull is now complete on both sides and sanded. The second side went much better ad did not need filler like the first side. Starting to  better understand the plank bending and fitting process, even thou this hull was complex or severe like many others it was a great example for me to learn the process and have some success. I have also inserted the keel alignment pins. Will be ready tomorrow to add the additional keel parts to form a rabbet for the second hull.

[Der Alte Rentner]

Looking at these pictures, I am reminded that I did actually attempt a wooden model ship a number of decades ago.  I can't remember the name of the boat, but it was a two hull planking project like this.  My results were similar to yours, but then I got busy with work and never got to the second hull.  Nice thing about this scheme is that you don't have to be terribly exacting on the first round of planking.  I wonder what happened to that kit?

 

I had a tool that made pushing those pins in fairly easy.  It was a spring loaded gizmo that you loaded a pin into and pushed the handle to drive home the pin.  It was a low tech nail gun, if you will.  No air needed, just elbow grease.  I don't know how tough the wood in your kit is, and you're done with this phase anyway, so it's academic now.  

 

Looking forward to good things from you sir.

 

Best

 

Peter

[woodartist]

Second planking is proceeding, although slowly. Still have not gotten the knack of using super glue without getting it on adjoining pieces.

[Der Alte Rentner]

On 1/21/2024 at 2:20 PM, woodartist said:

Second planking is proceeding, although slowly. Still have not gotten the knack of using super glue without getting it on adjoining pieces.

 

I started using Gorilla brand super glue pen in the gel formulation.  Also got a box of those super thin extension tip.  The combination of those two nets some very consistent and predictable glue flow.  This should solve your problem.

Edited January 22 by Der Alte Rentner
corrected typo.

[woodartist]

Finished the second planking on one side of hull, about 1/3 of opposite side completed. Using the super glue pen is an improvement. Much less mess. Still need to fill gaps with wood filler and sand. But looking better already.

[woodartist]

The second planking is complete and I have filled the gaps and sanded, then filled the gaps and sanded and then filled the gaps and sanded. It is smooth and the 400 grit final sanding and no gaps. Started finishing the rudder. The pins in the rudder are1.5mm. It was a challenge. I had a little glue over run on one of the clamps. I will use a little acetone to remove it when I finish the other side.

[Der Alte Rentner]

12 hours ago, woodartist said:

I had a little glue over run on one of the clamps. I will use a little acetone to remove it when I finish the other side.

 

As soon as I saw the glue over run on the rudder, my first thought was how do you clean that up.  You addressed that, but as I contemplate all the small item gluing I'll be doing on Conny, the bigger question is, how do you avoid over run in the first place?  Further, since Super Glue sets so quickly, how do you accurately position these small pieces in the first place?  Any ideas?

[woodartist]

To position the straps I inserted a pin in one of the holes in the strap and pulled it out after I had one of the pins nailed in place. I tried to glue the plate in place and then nail but I could not get it perfectly centered on the holes, so I temporarily pinned it and then nailed it in place and put a drop of CA on afterwards. The acetone does remove the glue but it will tarnish the brass if it gets on the brass. That may not matter if you intend to paint it. I used a Q tip to put the acetate on.

[woodartist]

I improvised a large paper cup to use to mark the waterline. I used the calipers to measure where the line was on the plans and centered that distance on the paper cup. I used my power carver to center the hole in the cup to the size of the pencil. I re-checked the starting and ending point with the calipers after I drew in the line for both sides of the hull. I had my daughter hold the boat steady on the plastic base provided, which was necessary to get the line accurate. I hope to get it painted tomorrow.

[Der Alte Rentner]

22 hours ago, woodartist said:

I improvised a large paper cup to use to mark the waterline

your cup runneth over with good ideas

[woodartist]

I have painted the hull below the waterline. It has five coats with sanding between each coat. Next is the white line above the waterline and painting the rudder.

[woodartist]

The painting is finished, I sprayed the rust below the waterline, then used a brush to paint the white stripe, added the rubbing rails, the brush painted the black, finished the area above the rails with pine green. Trying to decide whether to also use pine green on the interior sides and contrast that with the natural wood look for the posts and rails.

[woodartist]

The rudder is in place, and the rope to the helm was threaded into the stern tiller box. Fr newbies it is important to thread the string in the back piece of the steering box before assembling the box. It is much easier that way.

[woodartist]

The Steering box is installed with the ropes connected to the rudder. Be very careful when installing the triangular corner in the stern. it is fragile , as can be seen I cracked it and had to reinforce it with glue on the back side but a little CA seeped thru even then.

[woodartist]

The steam winch completed. Some tips to make it easier: 1. sand the dowel before you cut it until the pieces fit on smoothly. It is much easier to sand while still one piece. 2. paint the pieces before assembly, then do touch up after completed. 3. after the wood circles are painted, re-drill the holes and the inserts will fit in better. 4. Do not install the top stem until after the circle inserts are completed, it is easier to be able to sit it flat when installing the inserts. 5. These inserts are fragile be careful, go slowly, and use fie tweezers to align inserts.

[Der Alte Rentner]

Being unfamiliar with the kit, I must ask, are those winch parts included with Lady Isabella? or did you build the winch from scratch?   

 

 

[woodartist]

The parts are included with the kit, but it is still challenging due to their small size and fragility.

 

[woodartist]

I have installed the pins needed for installing the sails. I first drilled the holes and found that the easiest way for installing the tiny pieces was to use the pin insertion tool to grasp them and to put a drop of ca on the tip before inserting.

[woodartist]

Lady Issabelle is done until the sails arrive. I did not use the wood slings/for the bow sprint mast or the aft spar. Instead I made a metal ring that secures the spars. I have not tapered the spars yet.  This has bee a really fun build. Can not wait for the sails and the chance to rig my first boat.